Fire Emblem Awakening - Future's End
by metallover
Summary: AU. The sequel to the adaptation-story Invisible Ties! Five years after the fall of Grima and the victory of the Shepherds, Robin and Lucina are once again thrust into danger. Only this time they and their allies face the very lives they strove to protect as wicked men grasp at forces far exceeding their reach and the heroes learn that Grima's taint is not yet gone from the world.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, places or anything else; they remain property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. This is a work of fanfiction and love: please don't sue me. Wait, I think I own the OCs… nah, screw it; Nintendo can have 'em if they really want.**

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><p><strong>Welcome, one and all to the sequel to <strong>_**Invisible Ties**_**! Yes, this is a continuation of the story I started with **_**Invisible Ties.**_** Go read that first. **

**This story, **_**Fire Emblem Awakening: Future's End**_** is a sequel to my earlier work **_**Invisible Ties**_** and the canon I established within that story's continuity. So this story, too, can be considered AU. Like any good author I've striven to make this a stand-alone story; you don't have to have read **_**Invisible Ties**_** to understand this story, but it will definitely help. I urge you to go read **_**Invisible Ties **_**regardless, though. Read it. If you've already read it, read it again. **

**Heh heh. I am going SO off the rails with this story. Believe me when I say this story is mostly of my own imagining. Yes, for everyone that asked about the Future Past DLC maps, this is where I'm using them. To a degree, anyway. I has plans, I does. Plans involving two distinct story arcs! At least twenty chapters of further Fire Emblem story! AT LEAST! PROBABLY MORE! ARE YOU ALL EXCITED!? I KNOW I AM!**

… **Don't ask about an update schedule. Once I get some momentum going it probably won't be long waits, but I'm working on like five projects at once right now, so… Yeah. Updates when they happen. **

**I genuinely don't intend for this story to run as long as **_**IT **_**did; for Naga's sake, that story is worth three or four novels and took more than a year to write! However, I do tend to get carried away, so… yeah. Let's see where this takes us! Any thoughts, queries, concerns, don't hesitate to PM me. Any kind words or constructive criticism, go right on ahead and post a review. **

**And most importantly, enjoy the ride. Again. Nagaspeed, good readers!**

_**metallover – 2014**_

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><p><strong>Prologue ~ The Present<strong>

In Ylisstol, the capital city of the Haildom of Ylisse, life went on as usual. Grocers and other merchants made sales to their customers under the watchful eyes of the City Guard, some coming as far as Valm across the sea to buy Ylissean goods; tradesmen shouted orders to their apprentices, some of the slower ones receiving swift kicks to the rear as they contemplated getting out of another day of work; Guards smiled and laughed with the citizens as they went about their daily patrols in the bright morning sunshine.

It was the pinnacle of idyllic life; the people were happy, the kingdom was stable, and the weather was brilliant.

As a young woman in an oversized ankle-length black coat strolled through the merchant quarter of the ancient city she took a deep breath, savouring the scent of freshly baked bread mingling with the fires from the hardware smithies and a hundred other scents.

"Lady Morgan!" one of the grocers shouted out with a wave when he caught sight of the woman. "Good morning! Want to try the latest harvest?"

He indicated down to the crate full of pears grown in the orchards in the Ylissean Southlands, the fruits bright and no doubt full of delicious juice. It made Morgan's mouth water just thinking about it.

"Alright, Horace, you twisted my arm," she laughed, brushing a lock of the long chestnut hair out of her face and stepping lightly over to the man's storefront.

The big man laughed through his thick greying beard, holding his ample stomach as Morgan bit into one of the fruits. She made a satisfied sound bordering on ecstasy, rolling her eyes as the juice from the fruit hit her tongue.

Horace laughed louder, slapping one meaty hand on Morgan's shoulder as she tore into her pear without a care as to who might be watching.

"See!" he called out. "My fruit has the Grandmaster's Seal of Approval!"

"Half the market has the Grandmaster's seal of approval!" one of the merchants across the street called back, smiling as well.

Looking around at the happy and lively faces one would never be able to tell just how close the world had come to ending a few short years ago. Morgan grinned along, pulling out her coin purse and making to pay Horace, but before she could pull anything out of it she found her arms full of more fruit.

"Here! Take it and share it with the rest of the Shepherds!" he said, smiling down at her. "Make sure the princesses eat some, too! It'll help them grow up big and strong, just like their big sister!"

"Dammit Horace, you do this every time! Let me pay you!" Morgan laughed.

"It's your fault for walking through the market," the merchant insisted. "Now get out of here before the others notice you, too!"

She knew better than to argue with the boisterous man, giving the other merchants a hasty and awkward wave as she resumed her journey through the markets.

With a sigh Morgan mentally prepared herself for what happened every time she went to the palace through the markets as the other friendly merchants and craftsmen began to notice her.

It was rough being a hero.

* * *

><p>By the time she finally reached the palace again Morgan had been forced to remove her coat and convert it into a sort of basket-satchel hybrid to carry everything she'd been given. She loved going through the marketplace first whenever she returned to Ylisstol, but damn if she wasn't getting sick of the hero worship that was heaped on her at times.<p>

However, Morgan thought with a smile as two excited pairs of feet came running at her down the Ylisstol palace's Great Hall, there were some people that were the exemption to the rule.

"Morgan!" Lucina cried, skidding to a halt just in front of the Grandmaster.

"Morgan brought presents!" Cynthia added, coming up just behind her older sister.

The grandmaster grinned as she knelt down to hug the two blue-haired sisters. This Lucina and Cynthia, though, were the present versions of themselves, rather than the time-travelling versions that Morgan had grown up with. They were both growing up fast, Cynthia having just celebrated her fourth birthday the week before with her future self, the current Deputy-Commander of the Pegasus Knights.

"Lucina, Cynthia!" another voice called out from the end of the great hall. "Stop pestering Morgan! She's exhausted from her trip, give her some space!"

Queen Sumia, wife of the Exalt and another of the heroes that had saved the world stepped into the hall from the passageway behind her husband's throne, smiling happily when she caught sight of Morgan. Sumia had taken to royal life far better than her husband had, the people said. Where Exalt Chrom was the inspiring, indomitable leader of Ylisstol's armies and defender of the realm, Queen Sumia's gentle, caring approach to the common folk had won hearts and minds throughout the very same realm. She was said to be the perfect match for him, counterbalancing the hot-headedness of the Exalt that it seemed would never fade.

She had her hair down that day, the flowing brown locks reaching almost the entire length of her back now, cascading down over the elegant white gown she wore.

"Hello, dear!" the Queen added, crossing the space to give the younger woman a hug of her own. "How was Chon'sin?"

"Lovely," Morgan answered, returning the hug. "Miriel will be happy to know that she was right and I'm finally starting to get over my sea-sickness with all this 'immersion therapy'. Mom says hi, by the way."

Sumia's smile grew as she turned, beckoning Morgan follow her into the palace. The Grandmaster knelt quickly again, pressing a finger to her lips to shush the girls and quickly giving each of the young Princesses a sweet-bun before hefting her coat-basket and hurrying after Sumia. Grinning ear to ear, the two blue-haired girls raced off again, full of energy now that they had their spoils. Morgan followed the Queen into the palace proper, stopping long enough to hand over her gifts to one of the Ylissean Royal Family's chamberlains before putting her coat back where it belonged.

"How have things been here?" the Grandmaster asked as she jogged to catch up with Sumia.

"Oh, pretty much the same," the Queen said airily.

She smiled lightly as she realised that Sumia was leading them the long way, through the atrium that housed the palace's flower gardens. They stepped into the domed space, Morgan instantly being assailed by the sweet fragrances and bright sunlight through the clear glass ceiling. Sumia knew that this was one of her favourite places in Ylisse.

"It's as you've already seen. The realm is prospering. The girls are getting bigger, Chrom is getting grumpier from dealing with politicians all day, and we still rarely receive word from Robin or Lucina. How are things in Chon'sin?"

Morgan's smile turned wry at the mention of both her father and her old friend, but she decided to put those thoughts on the backburner to talk properly with Sumia. Her irritation at her father's lack of communication for the last year could wait until later.

"His Grace and the Knight Commander should already have copies of the reports," Morgan said, taking her time dawdling through the gardens. "Seiko went ahead to deliver them when we landed in Plegia."

Sumia nodded, waiting for Morgan to continue.

"Things are going well, though," she went on. "The Imperial Valmese economy is finally beginning to stabilize, which will make Mom's life a lot easier and take a lot of stress off of Chon'sin and Chengshi's markets. A lot of the smaller nations have amalgamated with the larger three, too, so there's always a lot of paperwork to do. Virion's doing well, too. Gerome is already beginning to learn to ride; it won't be too long before Cherche brings him to Wyvern Valley to pick out his own mount. And lady Tiki has officially returned to her slumber atop the Mila Tree. Apart from that, not much else has changed."

They stepped out of the atrium and back into the palace, angling now for the military wing and Morgan's office.

"That's nice to hear," Sumia said. "I'm glad things are finally looking up for the continent. For a while there Frederick and Chrom were worried we would have to deploy a peace-keeping force. We actually had to stop Basilio from leading one personally."

"Yeah, Mom's really scary when people are being irrational," Morgan said with a shudder.

It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that Say'ri had brought Lord Liung of Chengshi and the Imperial Council in Valm to heel with only her glare. In fact, the majority of the border-placement discussions had wound up being in Chon'sin because of it.

They continued to talk about inconsequential things until Morgan reached her office, stopping to give Sumia one last hug before they separated and Morgan closed the door behind her. She crossed the room, hesitating only long enough to take off her equipment belt and hang it on the wall-hook next to her ancient nodachi Sol, before sinking into her chair and throwing her booted feet up on the desk.

She blinked, and suddenly there was a small steaming cup of Chon'sin green tea sitting on the table in front of her.

"Thank you, Seiko," Morgan sighed, sipping the fragrant tea.

"Of course, Princess," one of the office's shadows said, separating from the rest and bowing.

Seiko stepped around the desk to where Morgan could see her, the spy and assassin gripping a clipboard and a sheaf of papers. She was wearing the black robes of a clerk, officially employed as Morgan's personal assistant in her capacity as Ambassador to Chon'sin. However, unofficially Seiko was also Morgan's body-guard, the woman being an absolute terror in a fight. No doubt there were uncountable blades strapped to her person under those robes… Say'ri had insisted her daughter take extra protection, and Seiko had agreed, insisting she was getting too old to continue being a spy despite only being a few years older than Morgan herself.

"How long have you been back for?" Morgan asked, letting the fragrant steam from her cup waft over her.

"Barely two days, my lady," Seiko answered promptly.

Morgan nodded, taking a sip from her tea and making a satisfied sound. She glanced over at her assistant, quirking one brow in a way that her mother always said made her look exactly like her father.

"I trust whatever's attached to that clipboard can wait until I see my fiancé first?" Morgan asked, taking another sip of her tea.

"I can make it wait," Seiko said with a knowing grin. "He is in the barracks with the others."

"Good," Morgan said, getting to her feet and draining the last of her tea. "What would I ever do without you, Seiko?"

"Waste your afternoon looking for Yarne-chan," the other woman chuckled. "I will keep Frederick-sama busy until you are done. Go and have your fun. And remember to draw up your hood if you're going to leave the palace again."

Morgan grinned, giving Seiko an appreciative wave before slipping out of her office.

After six months abroad it was good to be home. Or it would be when Morgan got her hands on Yarne's fluffy ears, anyway.

* * *

><p>Across the sea on the continent of Valm a man let loose an arrow at the straw target more than a hundred meters away. The black and grey fletched projectile missed the bullseye by a few inches, and the man let out an irritated sigh.<p>

Only a few short years ago he had been among the vanguard that had slain the Fell Dragon, saving the world from eternal darkness. Now he found himself hiding in the privacy of his villa's archery range from the incessant nagging of his court officials and the visiting envoys from other nations, unable to even hit the bullseye.

Virion, archest of archers and one of the closest confidants of the hero-tactician Robin, frowned as he lowered his bow. A shot like this should have been no problem for him. It had been far, far too long since he had trained properly.

Since the Valmese Empire had dissolved and returned ownership of the smaller countries it had subjugated back to their own lords the entire continent had been a hive of activity, Rosanne included. No more Imperial rule meant that free trade was once again possible, and the nobles were scrambling like mad to cement themselves in the newly forming hierarchy. Virion, however, wanted none of that, instead choosing to make the tiny nation his family lorded over a protectorate of the rising power in the east that was Chon'sin.

He hadn't been alone in his decision, either; many smaller nations had rushed to Chon'sin or Chengshi, some even opting to maintain Valmese Imperial rule. The Independence War had all but shattered the economies of the smaller nations that had survived on trade when the Empire had conscripted their workers; attaching themselves to the stronger nations that had weathered the storm seemed to be the more popular thing to do.

Not that Virion was a particularly popular ruler, though. He still had a long way to go to earn his people's trust back, even after Cherche had spent months trying to convince them he hadn't fled for his own sake. The citizenry was coming around slowly, and that was good enough. Virion just needed to be patient.

"Wow," a soft voice breathed from behind him. "Father, you're incredible."

Virion chuckled as he turned to his son, ruffling the boy's hair as he laid his bow aside. He hadn't even heard him approaching…

"I was once much better," the archer sighed. "I fear I have spent far too long playing at being a politician."

A younger version of Gerome looked up at his father with big, round eyes, nodding sagely at the man's confession.

"But come now, son," Virion said, practically bouncing as he stood back up. "Enough of my complaining. Why don't you retrieve your own bow, and we'll work on your form."

Virion grinned as the young boy ran off towards the Villa, turning and heading to drag the target much, much closer. It had, of course, been Robin's suggestion that the boy learn archery in addition to flying. The thought of a force of archers flying above the enemy and striking at key targets without ever coming into their range had appealed greatly to the tactician, and Cherche had leapt at the idea to get Gerome to spend more time with his father. The older Gerome, however, had refused to take up a bow, instead spending all of his time silently moping around Wyvern Valley in the south. Virion had vowed when Gerome had been born in this timeline that he would spare his son the trauma that had turned him into a grouchy recluse.

Virion had to grin as he dragged the target closer to the villa, recalling the way his friend Robin had been so unnerved at the birth of his own daughter in this timeline.

"_How do you do it?"_ the ex-tactician had asked one night over a chessboard. _"How do you just, you know, 'snap' and become a father?"_

Virion had shrugged as he put his friend into check.

"_We do it because we have to,"_ he had reasoned. _"I will, however, admit that we may have an unfair advantage over our future-selves. Our children have come back in time, and given us a first-hand account of all the mistakes we made."_

Robin had nodded silently, proceeding to win the chess game in another three moves, cornering Virion's king with pieces that the other man hadn't moved since the start of the game.

"_I'm sure you'll be a great father,"_ Robin had said, grinning at his victory. _"A better father than chess-player, anyway."_

Virion shook his head, grinning at the encouragement as her returned to the present. Gerome was already running back towards him, clutching his half-sized bow tightly with a great smile on his face.

_A better father than I was in the future, at the very least,_ Virion told himself, ruffling his son's hair again before they took up their positions.

* * *

><p>That evening Virion checked the position of his cufflinks one last time as he marched towards the Villa's dining room, young Gerome following at his heel as he fidgeted with his own cravat. That night he was to be playing host to one of the most powerful and influential figures in all of Valm, a veritable paragon of the common man, and the woman he had placed all his hopes for Rosanne's future on.<p>

As he stepped into the elegant and subdued dining room, he watched as Cherche and Queen Say'ri of Chon'sin shared a laugh, the two women obviously enjoying themselves. They both stood to greet him, though, his wife and his new Queen smiling warmly as he and Gerome approached the table. Virion gave Cherche a quick kiss on the cheek before bowing low to Say'ri, doing his best to seem sincere.

"Welcome, your majesty," he said in flawless Chon'sin.

Say'ri chuckled a little, returning his greeting with a gracious nod before smirking at the archer.

"Your accent is still terrible," she commented wryly.

Cherche covered her mouth, attempting to hide her laughter in the guise of a cough as she led Gerome to his seat. Virion just smiled and shook his head, showing Say'ri to her seat at his table's position of honour.

"I fear I may be getting too old to be learning new languages, my Queen," the archer sighed dramatically.

"Fie," Say'ri chided. "I am not asking you to learn it. It was your idea."

Virion winced internally as he grinned at Say'ri.

"I have had bad ideas in past," he admitted, settling into his seat. "Such as… well, letting Robin get away with just about every mad stunt he pulled during the war."

They all shared a laugh at that, except for Gerome who simply looked bewildered at all this adult-speak, before the entre was brought out.

"So how is Morgan?" Cherche asked conversationally.

"She should be arriving in Ylisstol any day now," Say'ri explained. "She is coping well with her new positions."

"Has there been any word on what her father has been doing in the last few years?" Virion asked.

If anyone would have heard from Robin, surely it would have been his daughter. Say'ri sighed and shook her head, though.

"No more than any of us," she said. "Truly I wonder what it is that he has been so preoccupied with."

"What of his school?" Cherche asked curiously.

"The lady Aversa is currently running it for him," she explained. "And caring for his daughter in the interim. Fortunately he had yet to take on many students… Really, how both he and lady Lucina could simply disappear…"

"Knowing them, it was for a good reason," Virion interjected. "They would not simply drop off the face of the earth, giving us periodic updates that they are 'still alive' without a purpose."

Say'ri nodded again.

"I know," she said. "It just… Fie, I wish they would have come to one of us for help!"

Virion smirked, sharing her sentiments. Robin and Lucina had both vanished more than a year ago with Owain and Severa, and nobody had heard more than a few scribbled words on scraps of parchment delivered by Huginn the raven since.

"He knew we were all busy trying to rebuild," Cherche sighed.

"And you must admit, my Queen, that we have been busy," Virion added.

Say'ri sighed, setting down her utensils and giving Virion a wry glance.

"I should have known better than to think you would not take his side," she said jokingly.

"But of course!" Virion announced, a small flare of his old pomp coming to the fore. "For I, Duke Virion, archest of archers, have been one of Robin's best friends since his induction to the Shepherds nearly a decade ago! Therefore, I also have first rights to beat the stuffing out of him for abandoning us for so long without a word."

The three adults in the room burst into laughter again, leaving a confused Gerome to poke at his soup as he waited impatiently for the main course.

* * *

><p>In the deserts of Plegia six black robed and hooded figures strode through the desert, the woman leading them in slightly more ostentatious robes setting a crippling pace as the five other mages struggled to keep up.<p>

Tharja turned to cast a contemptuous glance over her shoulder, glaring at her would-be apprentices as they floundered to the top of the sand dune she was standing on.

"Come on, we're almost there," she snapped at the gasping student-mages.

She spun on her heel, her cloak flapping out behind her in the wind as she slid down the opposite side of the dune, revealing her signature black body-suit and golden trim. In the distance she had spotted their destination, the oasis town of Grima's Fall that had sprung up around her new Dark Mage academy.

In the last five years she had dedicated herself wholly to restoring the order of Dark Mages, taking in any student that showed even an inkling of promise in the dark arte. It had been a learning curve at first; her social skills were less than terrific, even after spending so much time around Robin and the Shepherds. However she had persevered and the five acolytes struggling to keep pace with her were her first batch of soon-to-be graduates.

She hadn't told them that yet, though. That was a surprise for later.

"Moth-Master, w-we've been walking all day!" one of the acolytes called out in a timid stutter.

Tharja sighed, wishing that her daughter would hurry up and lose the stutter already as she signalled a halt in the shade of the dune.

"Five minutes," she announced.

The acolytes, as one, collapsed. They weren't physically exhausted, but rather mentally. This was a training exercise to improve their weight-distribution spells. In layman's terms, it was to teach them to prolong their walking on sand spells. The loose sand of Plegia's central desert was ruthless in the way it slowed any movement to a crawl, but over the centuries the Dark Mages had developed a means to combat that and move as if on regular ground over the loose sand. It consumed a great deal of mana, though, so Tharja was pushing her acolytes as hard as she could to toughen them up and build up their mana reserves.

Her own reserves were freakishly large, thanks to years of trying to keep up with Robin's casting, so she had no problem with a three-day hike through the desert. But her students on the other hand…

The three men and two women all shrugged their hoods back, fanning at their faces as they sucked from their dwindling water supplies.

Noire, who much to Tharja's hidden delight was the most advanced of the students, drank slowly, as if still afraid of earning her mother's ire for acting improperly. The girl really did have a natural gift, and without Grima around tainting dark magic Tharja hadn't seen any reason not to train her properly. She still carried her enchanted bow around everywhere, the one that Robin had made for her, even though she looked utterly ridiculous with a bow hidden under mage's robes. She'd let her hair grow out now, too, and it was almost as long as her mother's had been during the war.

The two students closest to her, the identical twin boys Asim and Lateef, were leaning back to back, holding each other up as they took turns drinking from their remaining waterskin. The only other girl besides Noire, Femi the teenage wonder-child from one of Plegia's oldest Dark Mage families, was lying on her back, desperately sucking in air as she fanned herself with her hand. Sitting a small way away from the others was her final student Badru, already having slipped into an ancient meditative technique to help control his breathing and increase his mana recovery rate.

"I hate the desert!" Lateef groaned loudly as he passed the almost empty waterskin back to his brother.

"I'm getting used to it," Asim sighed, before glaring back at his twin. "Did you seriously drink all the water?"

"You were too slow."

"You are so dead!"

"Enough!" Tharja hissed, halting the two boys mid-argument.

Asim and Lateef were from one of the northern border-towns, so they weren't used to the constant heat and dryness of the desert. They also liked to waste a lot of their energy arguing, but Tharja had watched them both work themselves to the bone dragging each other through her training.

"Don't you two… ever stop?" Femi gasped, looking up a little at them. "At least… try to act… like proper mages…"

"I'm trying to meditate here," Badru muttered irritably.

Tharja rolled her eyes, deciding to let the acolytes bicker. They were all only teenagers anyway; Noire was the oldest by a few years now, the next oldest was Badru at twenty-one, making Femi was the youngest at seventeen. Besides, a healthy rivalry was good for Dark Mages. She knew they all considered each other as friends and colleagues, which was the best she could have hoped for. She had tried as hard as she could to quash the petty, back-stabbing nature of the old Dark Mage order.

Surprisingly Noire was the first one back on her feet, the pale and thin girl giving her mother a quick smile before she pulled her hood back into place.

"Alright, break's over," Tharja announced. "Back on your feet. Last one to the temple goes without dinner."

There was a collective groan of displeasure from the students as they climbed back to their feet, Tharja having to stop herself from cackling at the suffering she was causing, settling for a grin that she hid in the shadows of her hood.

Sometimes she really, really loved being a teacher.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon, as the sun was beginning to set into the dunes behind Grima's Fall, Tharja leaned against a stone column, watching as her husband gave a lecture to the younger acolytes.<p>

"… so therefore Druidism is a form of Dark Magic, too," Henry was saying to an enraptured audience of young teenagers. "Its roots are closer to the Anima school of magic, but uses Dark Magic to commune with nature and bend it to our will rather than the quid-pro-quo relationship of Anima. That's why it's considered such a high-difficulty school of magic, because nature has a very strong will to bend."

The white-haired man glanced up, breaking into his trademark grin as he noticed Tharja watching him from the shadows.

"That's it for today!" he announced happily. "Teacher has some… naughty things to do, so go and get some dinner from the refractory before I hex you all! Scat!"

The students scattered, cramming their scrolls and quills into their book bags as fast as they could while running from the lecture steps. The Dark Mage Academy was in an old temple that Tharja had repurposed, calling on her family's wealth and influence to lay claim to the building. The lecture area was a recessed amphitheatre off to one side of the main hall, where Henry usually held his theory classes.

The Dark Mage literally skipped up to Tharja, wrapping her in a tight bear hug once he reached her.

"'Something naughty', huh?" Tharja repeated as Henry stepped back.

"Yeah, but they just think I meant some weird experiment or hex," Henry chuckled. "However you and I both know that 'naughty' can mean a whole bunch of things…"

"I like the first option more," Tharja whispered in his ear, leaning her body against him before dancing back out of his grip.

"You are so evil," Henry laughed. "And I am still okay with that."

Tharja gave him a seductive smile as she turned, swaying her hips as she began to walk through the temple's open main hall. Henry followed, eager to be with his wife again after being apart for even a short period of time.

After the war Henry had found himself with severely limited skills in Dark Magic, as opposed to the ability he had possessed before. Tharja had thought it was something to do with how long he'd been under the Deadlord's curse of unhealing wounds. However, his knowledge had remained intact, so even though he had all the skills of a first year acolyte, he could still lecture and focus on the theoretical parts of Tharja's plan. He hadn't even seemed phased by his loss of power, simply adjusting to his new role and continuing to support Tharja's endeavours any way he could. Just the thought of everything he'd done for her in the last five years was enough to make Tharja blush happily. Not that she would ever let anyone see her like that, though…

"So didja hear from the bird yet?" Henry asked brightly as he matched her pace.

Tharja frowned and shook her head.

"How many months is that now?" Henry asked, undaunted by his wife's mood-change.

"Seven," Tharja ground out.

It had been seven months since Robin had shown up on her temple's doorstep, begged her to let him borrow Huginn, and then flown off again on the back of his damnable gryphon. The former tactician and current teacher had looked rough when she had seen him. He looked like he hadn't slept or eaten properly in quite some time, and had even grown a thick coat of stubble on his face.

But what really irked Tharja was now Huginn was apparently playing carrier pigeon in the Eastern Kingdoms like some common… pigeon!

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Henry tried to soothe, stepping in front of her and flashing his big Cheshire grin at her. "I'll make it up to you and help you think of scary things to do to him once he shows up again."

Tharja took a quick, calming breath before grinning at her husband again and stroking his face as she stepped past him.

"Perhaps if you're really helpful I'll even try a few of those ideas out on you first," she promised, her cloak swaying with her movements as she walked towards the refractory. "But first, let's get some dinner to build your strength up."

Henry blinked, lingering and reaching up to touch his face where her hand had lingered.

"Well how am I supposed to eat when I'm this excited?" he muttered to himself, hurrying to catch up to his wife.

* * *

><p>Cordelia let out a sigh as she watched the rolling countryside flashing by beneath her. She was on an important patrol mission in northern Ylisse, and she was bored. The Risen were gone, Frederick had rooted out any bandits that were hiding around the countryside after the final battle with Grima almost single-handedly, meaning her Knights had been reduced to glorified bodyguards and scouts.<p>

Fortunately, in the last five years her order's numbers had swelled; from ten Knights to thirty, with another forty currently still in training in little more than a year.

At Sumia's urging the veterans of the Battle of Mount Origin were being granted the rank of 'Whitewing', a title that hadn't been used since Ylisse's founding. Each member of the squad, along with the manaketes and Gerome, all now had the symbol of white wings spread out as if taking flight emblazoned on their armour. Funnily enough, Gerome hadn't protested the symbol being put on his dark armour before he'd disappeared to Valm. As an afterthought Cordelia had also bestowed the rank upon the Pegasus Knights' quartermaster, Elle, too. Elle was the only survivor besides Cordelia and Sumia of the war with Plegia that had started events on the path to Grima's return, and it hadn't felt right not to acknowledge her staunch service that had continued even after she had been crippled.

Below Cordelia her wingman and Deputy-Commander, the Cynthia that had come back from the future with Lucina and Severa, let out a little whoop as she urged her mount into a barrel-roll, her long blue hair trailing out behind her head.

Usually such behaviour would have earned her a stern reprimanding, but it was just the two of them on this mission, so Cordelia just grinned and shook her head. Her best friend's daughter was spirited at the best of times, finding fun in the most mundane of tasks in a way that made Cordelia happy she had volunteered for this mission. The younger woman's exuberance was catchy.

Cordelia urged her mount into a fast climb before swooping low just behind Cynthia and her mount Palla. The blue-haired woman, whose hair was now almost as long as her mother's and tied back in a neat pony-tail, let out a laugh at the obvious challenge, and the race began.

The two pegasai whinnied happily, finally free to stretch their wings again after being cooped up in the roost for so long.

* * *

><p>"That was fun!" Cynthia laughed, stepping off Palla and stretching her arms above her head.<p>

Cordelia nodded, dismounting her own partner and giving her a grateful pat on the flank. Both creatures headed straight for the trough that their hosts had put out for them, drinking deeply from the nearly-frozen water.

Cordelia and Cynthia both walked along the top of the Longfort to meet with the Wall Warden Raimi, who was standing waiting for them.

"Hail, Wing Commander," she greeted.

"Greetings, Warden Raimi," Cordelia said. "You seem to be doing well."

The older blonde woman nodded and grinned, indicating they follow her with a wave of her lance.

"What can I say? It's a cushy posting, watching over the Longfort during this peace," she explained. "I just sit around, write up the occasional roster and train for the rest of the time."

"Yeah, that's basically all we're doing lately, too," Cynthia sighed.

"Are you both really complaining about the world finally being at peace?" Cordelia asked.

"Of course not," Raimi said with a shrug. "I'm just saying that when there was unrest, things were a little more exciting."

"It's a nice change, though," Cynthia went on. "It's nice to be able to go to sleep and know that there's a one-hundred percent certainty that the world's going to be there when you wake up."

"Not much heroism to be had anymore, though," she muttered under her breath.

"Really?" Raimi asked as she ushered the two women into one of the watch-houses on the wall. "Word has it that the tactician's gone and disappeared on some great heroic quest."

Cynthia winced, glowering as she fell into a seat at the simple table in the watch house.

"And he invited Owain instead of me!" the blue-haired Pegasus knight complained loudly. "I'm every bit as heroic as my cousin is! It isn't fair!"

Cordelia cleared her throat, giving the girl a short glare that shut her up. The Wing-Commander turned back to a chuckling Raimi, grinning softly.

"That's actually part of why we're here," she admitted, spreading her hands a little.

"Yeah, Khan Flavia thought as much," Raimi sighed, pushing a bundle of papers, each bearing the Khan's signet stamp, across the table towards Cordelia and Cynthia.

"These ought to keep your Exalt happy. Oh, and Khan Basilio wanted me to pass on the message that the next Khan-Tournament is coming up soon. Something about 'wanting his bloody palace back'."

Cynthia let out a very unladylike snort as she burst into laughter, Cordelia just shaking her head and grinning at the old Khan's utter lack of grace.

"I'm sure not just Exalt Chrom, but most of the Shepherds will be overjoyed to hear that news," Cordelia said, lifting the stack of papers.

The saffron-tressed Wing-Commander knew that she, at the least, was excited by this news. It had been far too long since she'd had a real challenge, and the tournament to decide who was going to be reigning Khan-Regent would be the best place to find one. Even Frederick would be excited by this news!

* * *

><p>In northern Regna Ferox the seasons changed quickly. Summer gave way to a short Autumn, which in turn became a lasting Winter that saw snow cover the land for almost six months of the year. Life was hard, and without the regular delivery of supplies to many of the northern villages from the Anna merchant group, life would be almost impossible.<p>

And it was in this unforgiving land that Robin had opened his school for tacticians.

Much to his adopted sister Aversa's dismay, he had even chosen to open it in a drafty old fort.

In the evening as the mage-instructor and acting Headmistress of Robin's school desperately wrapped herself in blankets next to a fire, Aversa frowned at the fireplace. She was sitting in Robin's office/study, the one she had commandeered while he was on his little 'mission'. And, to make matters worse, in her arms was the tiny form of her four-year-old niece that was having trouble sleeping.

_I will kill him_, Aversa promised herself, shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to cover her neck properly without disturbing the child's rest.

_When he gets back, and I can offload this child on her mother again, I will kill Robin with my bare hands._

Unlike during the Ylissean-Plegian war nearly a decade ago now Aversa's thoughts held no malice towards her brother. Just annoyance at playing nursemaid. They had admittedly grown closer in the last few years, despite their clashing personalities. Robin was just the sort of man that wouldn't give up on something once he set his mind to it, and Aversa had just had to accept that fact.

"Auntie Aversa…?"

The sorceress sighed and broke her cocoon of warmth to run a hand over her niece's hair.

"Are you ready to go back to bed yet, child?" she asked in a bored voice.

The little girl shook her head.

"It's cold," she complained in a small voice.

"I should hope so," Aversa scoffed. "It is snowing outside."

"It's always snowing outside," the little girl complained.

The blue-haired girl pulled the blankets tighter around herself as she spoke, uncovering Aversa's shoulders.

"That is because your father is apparently fond of the snow," Aversa drawled, shuddering as the frigid air caressed her skin.

Since her blanket had been commandeered she made do with pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders instead. Aversa had long ago traded her more revealing desert clothes for the subdued robes and cloak of a simple Dark Mage. It had been stuffy at first, but she had grown used to it. The trade-off was that she could maintain her hair without changing its colour, because she could simply draw up the hood in her rare public appearances.

"Why do you think Dad likes the snow so much?" the little girl asked after a thoughtful pause.

"Because he hates the desert," Aversa said lazily. "He is a man of extremes."

"What's that mean?"

"It means he likes things cold rather than hot. Soft rather than hard. Old rather than new. He does not look for the thing in between."

The little girl's face scrunched up for a few moments as she thought about this.

In four years Aversa wasn't ashamed to admit that this child had kept her guessing and impressed her immensely. As much as she hated to admit it, Robin was smarter than her. There was simply no arguing that point; Robin was smarter than most anyone. However, to Aversa it looked like the little girl currently trying to comprehend her aunt's example would eventually leave even Robin in the dust. At almost five years old now she was far more advanced than Aversa had ever seen in a child.

It was one of the things she was looking forward to rubbing in Robin's face when he got back: _"Oh, look how much your daughter has advanced under my tutelage compared to yours! You're hardly fit to be a teacher, let alone a father!"_

Then she would laugh, and Robin would say something snarky about her still being a war-criminal, no doubt followed by some sort of-

"So, does that mean Dad likes Morgan more than me?"

If Aversa had been drinking anything she would have spit it out at the absurdity of the question. As it stood she still burst into laughter, rocking back and forth as the child frowned at being jostled from her comfortable position by her aunt's antics.

"Oh child, trust me when I say that it's sickening how much your father loves you," Aversa said at last, wiping a tear from her eye.

That was another thing that the child did to her; she constantly made Aversa laugh, infuriatingly enough just like her father did.

"But… you just said Dad likes old stuff more than new stuff," the girl insisted. "If… if he does, then wouldn't that mean he'd like the old Morgan more than me?"

Aversa shook her head, still chuckling a little as she smoothed the child's hair.

"Yes, that would be a sound argument," the older woman agreed. "If, in fact, your name was Morgan, too."

Emmeryn, Robin and Lucina's only child, looked up at her aunt with wide eyes, the mark of Naga shining in her left eye the same as her mother. After a moment of looking into Aversa's eyes with her piercing blue gaze the girl's face softened into a smile. Satisfied now, she spun back and snuggled into Aversa's lap again, hitching the blanket around her shoulders properly once more.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Emm, the child's preferred nickname, agreed.

Robin had confided in Aversa that, even though his daughter was still technically 'Morgan', without Say'ri as the mother it felt somehow wrong to give her the same name. After some serious thought Robin and Lucina had settled on naming her after Lucina's late Aunt, the previous Exalt who had sacrificed herself to end the war with Plegia before it even began.

"You're really smart, Auntie Aversa," the little girl added with a yawn.

"Yes, be sure to tell your father that when he gets back," Aversa sighed. "But for now, I think it's time for you to go back to bed."

Emm let out a piteous moan, pressing herself further into her Aunt's stomach.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" she pleaded, looking up at the older woman with those big, wide eyes again.

Aversa sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose before sighing again.

"Very well," she conceded. "But this is the last time."

Emm let out a victorious sound, hopping up and almost yanking Aversa with her because she had forgotten that the blanket was wrapped around them both. The older woman shrugged the blanket over her head, wrapping Emm in it and giving her a small nudge towards the door with her foot. With a wave of her hand and a small wind spell Aversa extinguished the fire, following after the child.

"I could have done that," Emm complained, looking at the dead fireplace.

"I know you could have," Aversa said with a smirk. "But sometimes your Auntie needs to remind you she's actually a powerful sorceress. Not just your hot-water bottle."

"I knew that already, too!" Emm smiled, grabbing Aversa's hand. "And yeah, I'll tell that to Dad when he gets back as well."

Aversa smiled as she let Emm pull her along, careful not to let the girl actually see her smiling.

"You're learning well, child," she said with a small laugh.

* * *

><p>Chrom resisted the urge to grin as a frazzled Lissa shuffled into the main parlour of the Royal Apartments, falling into the reading chair opposite him with an exhausted sigh.<p>

"Now I know why they call it the 'terrible twos'," she groaned, looking over to her brother. "How did you and Sumia deal with it?"

Chrom lost the battle with his facial muscles and broke into a wide grin, shaking his head and chuckling at his sister.

"Honestly, Sumia did most of the work," he admitted. "I think Little Lucina was a little less excitable than Owain by far. Where's Lon'qu, anyway?"

"He's off doing some important Ambassadorial thingy in Regna Ferox," Lissa groaned. "If I could let Owain loose on his father right now, I would."

"That's right! Ah, a shame," Chrom said, feigning disinterest.

Lon'qu had officially taken on the role of Ambassador for Regna Ferox the previous year after four years of playing the part unofficially. The dour man was apparently a terror to behold in regional representative meetings, if what Lissa said was true. It probably didn't help matters that he still insisted on wearing his sword everywhere. Even Chrom opted to leave Falchion in his armoury most days, now, and the Shield of Seals was safely enshrined beneath the palace again. The gemstones split back up among the nations of the world.

"What about Cynthia?" Lissa asked desperately.

Chrom winced, going back to hiding behind the sheaf of reports in his hands.

"I… don't like to talk about it," the Exalt muttered darkly.

It was Lissa's turn to laugh now; both Owain and Cynthia pairs were inseparable, meaning a lot of their quirkier personality traits carried over. Of course, it didn't help their parents that both children had ridiculous amounts of energy, too, or that their future selves seemed insistent on turning their younger selves into clones of themselves. Cynthia was already desperately trying to rope Lucina into becoming a member of her new 'Justice Cabal'.

"I wonder where they get it from?" Lissa asked absently, letting herself relax a little more. "I mean, we were a lot more… subdued than that at their age, right?"

Chrom nodded, sighing and giving up on pretending to read Frederick's meticulous reports.

"I think Mother and Emmeryn were both a calming presence on us," he guessed.

"Yeah…" Lissa agreed, lapsing into silence before perking up again. "But what does that say about us as parents?"

"That we're a lot more fun?" Chrom asked with a shrug, earning a chuckle from his sister.

"Besides," he went on after a moment. "We've both seen how good a job we did raising our kids. Kind of takes the pressure off, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Lissa agreed half-heartedly.

"I could pull some strings and get Lon'qu back early," Chrom offered.

"Really!?" Lissa asked, perking up in her chair.

"Why does everyone keep forgetting that I'm the Exalt?" Chrom laughed. "Robin did say that I don't abuse my authority enough last time he was here."

Lissa nodded excitedly before her face fell and she let out a sigh, sinking back into her chair.

"It's only another couple of days," she groaned. "And it sounded like a pretty important meeting."

They sat in silence again after that, staring into space. Chrom began to feel himself nodding off, and just as he was about to get up and excuse himself for bed, Lissa said something that cut through the fog of his fatigue like a knife.

"Hey," she ventured tentatively. "Do you… miss the old days? Like, when we were all together, in the barracks and on the road? When… Emm was still alive? And Robin was still here with us?"

Chrom looked at his sister, taken aback by the far-away look in her exhausted gaze for a moment before breaking into another grin.

"Are you asking if I miss marching and the thought of a giant dragon destroying the world?" he asked jokingly.

"You know what I mean," Lissa huffed. "Why do I even try talking to you…?"

Chrom laughed, pretty sure he saw Lissa turn her head to hide the grin on her own face. She could act like an adult, but she was still the same sister he'd always known.

"I do," he admitted at last when he stopped laughing. "I miss our old life. But that's what life is, sis. Robin said it best when he left."

"'Life is just a series of greetings and farewells', right?" Lissa chuckled, quoting the Shepherds' former tactician. "He said that the night before he left, right? Lucina also promised that it wasn't goodbye forever… just for now. I wonder where they are right now?"

"Knowing Robin and Lucina?" Chrom scoffed. "They're probably up to their necks in trouble and are being too stubborn to ask anyone for help. Then, they'll show up when everything blows over all smiles and laughter, just like they always do, telling us more stories of their adventures while we pine for the road again."

Chrom leaned back into his chair again, grinning into the fireplace as his thoughts turned to his eccentric amnesiac tactician and his daughter that had come back from the future to save humanity from destruction. An odd pairing, if ever there was one, but one that had his full support. Chrom loved his daughter, no matter what time period she was from, and Robin was like his brother. They were family.

The Exalt ran a hand through his hair, letting out another sigh.

"Where in the world are you, Robin?" he muttered under his breath.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know I said there'd be more of a wait for this story, but I got bored and started working on the first chapter early. This is more scene-setting than anything else, something to give you a glimpse into what the Shepherds have been doing in the five years since Grima's downfall. It is just the prologue after all… The next chapter is a glimpse back in time, and the story of just where Robin and Lucina (and their students) have been for the last few years. And, more importantly, where they are now. So yes, <em>Future's End <em>begins in earnest next chapter.  
><strong>

**Yeah. Screw taking a break. I'm a writer, dammit. I can't make that claim unless I actually write. I'm pretty sure no one's going to complain anyway.**

…

**Yes, I'm still editing for the **_**Invisible Ties DX **_**version. It's… a work in progress (and I **_**hate**_** editing…).**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

**Firstly: Ryalle, do you have a profile on this site? If you'd like to talk shop and get a few tips on your writing I'm more than happy to oblige. In fact that offer goes for most everyone. I haven't got **_**heaps**_** of time, but I do love to help out emerging writers as much as I can. **

**Secondly: Friends, I give you my apologies now for the upcoming update lag; the Black Library has an open submission window once again for the first time in like a year, so I'll be focusing my efforts on that particular opportunity. Once that particular story is finished I will be uploading it to my profile, too, but for now it's taking up all my creative mojo, and I need to get it done. To tie you all over why don't I upload the first four chapters of my Fate/Stay Night OC story instead, huh? That'll keep the die-hards busy…**

…

**Ugh… Naga I hate writing Space Marines…**

**This chapter isn't the best work I've ever done, but as I was telling another reader it takes a little while to get any traction, but once I get going… well, you've all seen what happens. I needed to use this chapter to introduce the main cast of characters more than anything else, so I assure you that the story will kick off with a bang come New Year. Until then, as always:**

**Read, review, and Ave Imperator!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1 ~ 2 Years Ago<strong>

Robin bolted into a sitting position, clamping down on the scream about to escape his lips as his long white hair flew about at the movement. The last thing he needed was to wake his daughter again. Breathing heavily the former Ylissean tactician leaned forward and held his head in both hands, letting out a ragged sigh.

Of course, this behaviour didn't go unnoticed by the form sleeping at his side.

"The nightmares again?" Lucina asked sleepily, propping herself up on one elbow.

Robin nodded before he realized that they were sitting in the dark.

"Yeah," he answered, letting himself fall back onto his pillow.

It had been three years now since Grima had died. Three years of struggling to rebuild the world left shattered in the wake of the fell Dragon's short-lived return. Nearly an entire generation of young men had died during the Plegian Liberation Wars and the Valmese Independence War, and many still looked to the Shepherds for leadership, such as the teenagers currently in Robin's care as he taught them tactics. He'd made off better than some of his friends, though; Chrom and Sumia, Say'ri, Virion and Basilio and Flavia were all world leaders now. Frederick, Cordelia, Libra and Tharja were all sandbagged by their own responsibilities now, too. Robin had managed to dodge almost every responsibility that had been thrown at him, but the dreams still remained.

"Which one was it this time?" Lucina asked, moving closer and settling onto his chest.

Robin smiled a little at his wife's half-asleep question. She, too, was still assailed by the occasional nightmare of the future she had escaped from, but it was nothing compared to the ones Robin suffered from. At least twice a week he was waking in a cold sweat, and at least once a month he still woke screaming.

"I was falling again," he said softly, wrapping his arm around Lucina and stroking her hair with his other.

Lucina sighed happily as Robin ran his hand through her long blue hair and down to her shoulders, no doubt already drifting off again.

"It was just a dream," she reminded him gently.

"I know," Robin whispered. "Go back to sleep, dear."

Lucina nodded slightly, the movement little more than a twitch of her head, before her deep, rhythmic breathing signalled she'd drifted off again.

Robin couldn't help but smirk as he realised he'd been trapped again. He suspected she did this to him on purpose after his nightmares, using him like a pillow. He couldn't get up without waking her, so it motivated him to try and get back to sleep.

Giving another sigh Robin settled in for another night of staring at the ceiling as sleep eluded him.

* * *

><p>The next morning Robin gave a monumental yawn as he shuffled into the small living area in what had once been the fort's commander's quarters, shrugging his coat higher up onto his shoulders. It was still early in spring and the winter chill had yet to retreat fully; not that it ever fully retreated this far north, but it had stopped snowing for an entire week, so Robin called that a sure sign that spring was upon them.<p>

He scoffed and grinned a little to himself, shaking his head as he nudged a kettle closer to the fire. He and his school had only been there a few years and already he knew the weather patterns like a local. It was amazing just how fast one caught on to local weather tells once they stopped moving around constantly. This was honestly the longest period of time he could remember that he'd spent in one place, and it was a good feeling. It was nice to feel like he belonged. Not that he didn't feel that way in Ylisse, but here he'd made his own home, on his own terms, so it was a different feeling.

With another yawn Robin held his hands out over the fire, attempting to warm them from the oppressive chill.

"Rough night, sir?" a familiar voice asked from behind him.

"Yeah," Robin answered without turning. "I don't get much sleep anymore. What about you? Getting used to the cold yet?"

A young woman in a plain black tunic stepped around towards the fire, cradling two steaming cups of tea. Her dark tan skin was at odds with the pale complexions of the locals, and her long, straight black hair was pulled back from her face in a tight ponytail. She smiled at Robin as she gave him one of the cups.

"I'm doing just fine, sir," Robin's chamberlain, the former Plegian freedom-fighter-turned-Royal-Guard Sahiri, chuckled. "But I think you might want to look at getting more rest. That kettle's still empty. Here, sir; drink this while I get started on breakfast."

Robin blinked down at his cup of tea before nudging the empty kettle back away from the fire.

"I knew that," he muttered lamely as Sahiri laughed, moving to start cooking breakfast.

Robin sunk into one of the chairs at the small wooden table, taking a long sip from the cup; it was a blend of tea that Virion had sent from Rosanne, one that they had drank together whenever they had played chess. Sahiri mysteriously always seemed to know which flavour of tea he wanted on any given morning.

The young Plegian woman was Robin's, for lack of a better word, everything. She was his maid, chamberlain, clerk, school administrator, fort guard captain, and basically anything else he needed doing. Apparently Mustafa had ordered the old Royal Guard Captain Algol to send someone with Robin, even after he'd abdicated his claim to the throne, and Sahiri had jumped at the idea. To make matters worse, she'd even spent a year in Ylisstol while Robin and Lucina had been travelling, training under Frederick of all people on how best to be of service to Robin. He guessed that her overbearing attitude was the Knight Commander's way of spiting him for all the years he'd made Frederick's life hard by ignoring Ylissean social protocol while he'd been the Shepherds' tactician.

"You know you don't have to make us breakfast," Robin said, simply to break the silence.

He knew nothing would come of it, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Sahiri giggled a little in response as she measured out some oats.

"I know, sir Robin," the younger woman answered him. "But I like doing it. Plus, if I'm being entirely honest, I make myself a little while I'm up here, too."

"I knew you had to have an ulterior motive!" Robin declared, standing as he was overcome with his victory.

Lucina chose that point to make her entrance, leading a bleary-eyed Emm by the hand as she chuckled at her husband's antics.

"Good morning, Sahiri," she said. "What is all the screaming about so early?"

"Sir Robin simply realised something that has eluded him for more than a year," she answered cryptically, moving to help Emm into her seat.

"And good morning to you, young miss. Your breakfast will be ready in a few minutes," she added as she lifted the toddler into her higher chair.

"'Mornin Sahiri," Emm mumbled before letting out a huge yawn.

"Thank you, Sahiri," Lucina said graciously as she took her seat at the small table. "Won't you join us?"

Robin's brow shot up as Sahiri shot him a 'see what I meant?' look before giving Lucina a small bow.

"It would be my pleasure, my lady," the former Royal Guard said.

* * *

><p>After an uneventful breakfast Robin grinned happily as he leaned back against the table, preparing to watch his students piling into the small room he used for his classroom. It had once been the fort's command centre, and was still occupied by a long and wide wooden table covered in maps and small figures representing units on a battlefield. He'd hung a few tapestries up that Lissa had sent to him; apparently Ylissean officers got given these things when they lead during a successful campaign. The colourful images on them were master-class level work, but they just didn't fit in with the décor of his office, so he had hung them up in his teaching space to remind the students of the real-world application of what they were learning. One wall was lined entirely with books on tactics, at least five copies of each. Anna had practically salivated when he'd given her the order, but Chrom had insisted on paying for them and a lot of the school's resources as a 'wedding gift' for his daughter. Not that Robin or Anna were complaining, though.<p>

The door opened, snapping Robin back to the present.

The first to enter the room, as always, was the first official student he'd picked up for the school, the Chon'sin noble-born warrior Mariko. She had actually petitioned Robin to take her on as his apprentice while he and Lucina had still been honeymooning in Valm. Petitioned might have been putting it lightly, though; pestered incessantly until Robin gave in and sent her ahead of them to Aversa was probably more accurate. Funnily enough, the quietest of his students was also the most stubborn and persistent. Fortunately she had a keen mind and a good grasp of tactics, not to mention the skills with a blade that apparently every single person in Chon'sin was born with, even if her skills with magic were less than perfect. She stopped in the doorway and gave a polite bow in greeting, her long, loose black hair cascading over the shoulder of her pale pink kimono as she did so, before she silently moved to stand at Robin's side.

"Morning, Mari," Robin said brightly.

"Good morning, sensei," was the teenager's carefully measured reply, before she went right back to standing in silence.

Next into the room was the local boy Rance, his mahogany skin still sheening with perspiration from his morning exercise. Being a native of Regna Ferox obviously meant that the boy was apparently impervious to the cold, meaning he walked around in little more than hide pants and a sleeveless leather vest while the others were forced to layer. Like a lot of the Feroxi Robin had met, Rance bore an uncanny resemblance to Basilio, making him think that the old Khan's jokes about 'getting around' in his youth weren't as inaccurate as he'd been led to believe.

"Mornin', teach," Rance greeted brightly. "You joinin' us on the training field this arvie?"

"No," he laughed. "Trust me when I say I've already gotten a lifetime of Lucina kicking my arse up and down a training field. The whole reason I started this school was to give her new targets to beat up on. Like… you for instance."

The two men shared a laugh while Mariko poked at one of the cavalry pieces on the table. Once silence settled again Robin watched the doorway expectantly, waiting for his last two students to arrive; before long he could hear the sound of running footsteps, accompanied by the usual cursing and threats.

"Move, damn your sand-loving arse! We're running late and you're in my way!"

"Oh, so I should move out of your way and be even later? Yes, that's a brilliant idea. Why are you not at the top of the class again? Oh, right. You're an idiot."

"Oh shut up and- master! Good morning!" a tall, muscular blonde boy said, snapping to attention when he realised Robin was watching the door.

A smaller boy with dark purple hair bordering on black and wearing a familiar mage's tunic elbowed around the other boy, glaring at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Sorry, master. Isaac overslept and-"

"Galle, shut it!" the blonde boy hissed.

"Enough," Robin sighed. "Take your places. I'm not punishing you, but I'm telling both Lucina and Aversa not to take it easy on either of you this afternoon."

Both boys visibly paled as they hurried to take their positions at the table. Robin was no slouch when it came to discipline, but rather than waste his energy on punishing his students he would rather them have the sense beaten into them during their practical skills classes. Rance snickered a little at the outcome, while Mariko simply watched on with the same neutral expression she always wore. Nothing ever seemed to phase the girl, no matter how hard Robin or the others tried.

"Right," Robin said, clapping his hands together. "Who wants to learn about the best way to flank cavalry with infantry and limited support?"

* * *

><p>Lucina took a deep breath of the frigid spring air, a small smile rising unbidden to her face as she set up the practice swords for that afternoon's class. The practice space was just outside the fort's walls near the woods, where there was plenty of space for whatever weapon or magic was being used could be utilized fully. At Robin's insistence they had made sure a creek was nearby, too. In case of fire-magic-related mishaps.<p>

Lucina's smile grew a little as she carried the practice weapons from their box over to the rack.

Five years ago her life had taken a dramatic right-hand turn, and a number of things she never thought would happen actually had; starting, of course, with the defeat of Grima and the establishment of a lasting peace. Now she had a family, a home, and a future with the man she loved. It was mind-boggling that less than a decade ago she didn't think to even be able to survive as long as she had, let alone fall in love and start a family. She had spent more time smiling in the last few years than she had in her entire life before returning to the past.

And she definitely never would have guessed that she would be teaching swordsmanship to a future generation of young tacticians. But that was her life now, and it was sweeter than anything she had ever known. Not since her childhood had Lucina felt such levels of happiness and contentment.

A sound from behind her made the time-traveller glance up, her whole body tensing up as reflexes honed by a lifetime spent fighting kicked in.

"Peace, man-spawn," a giant brown rabbit easily as big as a bear said as it stepped out of the woods.

"Hello, Panne," Lucina said, placing the practice blades on the rack and dusting off her hands. "How does the day find you?"

The giant rabbit sniffed, sitting up on its hind legs and looking at Lucina with deep red eyes. As Lucina watched the rabbit shrunk down to the size of a human, transforming into a woman with long brown hair and matching patches of fur on the backs of her arms and her exposed shoulders. Two long brown rabbit's ears hung down from the top of her head, and while her eyes had taken on a more human appearance the irises were still the same deep red colour.

"Bored," the last full-blooded Taguel shape-shifter admitted. "I wish to sit in on your training."

Lucina grinned, letting out a small chuckle.

"I'm sure the students would love the chance to be pummelled by someone new," she laughed. "But where are Gaius and Yarne?"

Panne quirked her head, knowing instinctively that the younger woman was talking about her younger son, rather than the time-traveller that had come back from the future with Lucina.

"Yarne is in Ylisse with himself," Panne said crouching down next to the rack of practice weapons. "He likes the city, and it is good for him to become accustomed to being around the other man-spawn. Gaius is… indisposed."

Lucina nodded. "Then I welcome your expertise, Lady Panne."

The Taguel woman sniffed, glancing up at Lucina out of the corner of her eye.

"You persist on that title when we are practically family?" she asked curiously.

Lucina shook her head in response.

"Morgan is not my daughter," she explained. "And technically, the older Yarne is not your son. However, I merely do it because I know it irks you."

"You have spent far too much time around Robin," Panne deadpanned when she saw Lucina's sheepish smile.

Lucina just laughed, and before either woman could say anything else a dismayed cry went up from the direction of the fort.

"Oh hells no!" Rance groaned loudly. "Not again! Every time the bunny-lady shows up we get our arses handed to us, and I'm sick of the bruises!"

Lucina burst out laughing again as the other two boys in Robin's advanced class, Galle and Isaac, let out similar groans. The one girl, Mariko, didn't even flinch as she walked over and picked up a practice sword, looking at Lucina expectantly.

"Galle, Isaac, try not to kill each other while you warm up," Lucina ordered. "Mariko, I'd like to work on your footwork a little more today before I start with the boys. Sorry, Rance. Looks like you're going to be sparring with Panne first."

The young Feroxi let out another groan as he reached for a second practice weapon, balancing one in each hand.

"Good," Panne nodded as she sprung to her feet. "He is the heaviest one and flies the furthest."

"Please tell me she's joking," Rance moaned to Lucina.

Panne leaned forward, transforming back into her rabbit form and stepping back towards the forest.

"She's not joking," the young Feroxi boy sighed, hefting his wooden weapons. "Just… don't break anything this time. I'm sick of that healer in town, and I'm pretty sure he's sick of seeing me."

* * *

><p>That afternoon, while Lucina was busy beating the stuffing out of Isaac and Galle with wooden practice weapons while Mariko and Rance sparred in the background, Robin found himself with nothing to do for a change except wander around the halls of his fort, occasionally watching them from the window. He stopped, snickering to himself a little as Mariko dodged to one side and Panne barrelled into Rance while the Chon'sin girl danced out of the Taguel's path. He wasn't sure when she had arrived, but he knew that Lucina loved the help with her classes.<p>

Aversa was teaching the third class basic combat magic on the eastern side of the fort, the one that faced the ocean in case someone lit themselves on fire again; Robin had made sure that both practice areas were close to water for that reason alone. Lucina had Robin's first class, the students closest to graduating in Robin's opinion, for fencing practice; there wasn't much more she could teach them, but it still helped to keep their skills sharp. All of which left Sahiri, who had graciously offered to take the second class out into the forest for some survival training. They probably wouldn't be back until well after nightfall, either.

Meaning that Robin, for the first time in a long time, had nothing better to do than wander around and spend time with his daughter.

"What do you think, honey?" he asked, looking down at the girl walking along next to him. "Feel like going for a stroll into town?"

"I wanna go see Anna!" Emm said excitedly, racing ahead a few steps.

Robin cringed at the thought of dealing with the plucky merchant, but fortunately Emm didn't see his reaction. She loved to go and see the energetic woman that always doted on her, even if it meant Robin had to spend a lot of money on whatever cockamamie merchandise Anna was peddling at the time. Last time he had braved Anna's shop he'd wound up paying for a share of her cousin's merchant route out to the eastern shore, peddling merchandise along the way, and he really, really didn't want to get dragged into more business with the Anna family.

"I didn't want to go that far into town today…" Robin began to groan.

Emm spun to look back at her father, and as soon as Robin saw her smile any resistance he had to her idea instantly dissipated.

"Alright, let's go see Anna," Robin sighed, pushing the hair out of his face.

He would never admit it, but Robin was defenceless against his daughter's smile. It was the same one Lucina got very, very occasionally, which meant he had yet to build up a resistance, and his carefree child could use it all the time to get whatever she wanted.

"Yay!" Emm cheered, grabbing onto Robin's hand and beginning to drag him towards the fort's gates.

* * *

><p>The marketplace in Nauta was right on the docks, literally the furthest point in the town from Robin's fort in the woods. The small fishing town was one of the oldest in Regna Ferox, right on the north-eastern tip of the continent. Apparently a lot of whaling had gone on earlier in the town's existence, but for some strange reason the locals had switched to more traditional fishing instead. However, in the two years since Robin had made his home and started his school in the town there had been a rapid increase in people moving to the area, not to mention the construction around the town to accommodate all the new arrivals. Anna had said something about him being good for a local economy since people trusted him, but he was still a little weirded out by it.<p>

Like always the marketplace was bustling with people; dockworkers and sailors, fishermen and other tradesmen all going about their business while merchants tried to hock their wares. He exchanged greetings with a few familiar faces as Emm attempted to pull him along, the girl giving up after a few steps and dashing off ahead.

Robin found himself grateful for the fact that at least it was a nice day out, blue skies above with just a hint of winter's chill still on the wind. Emm seemed happy with the change, at least, running and spinning happily in her winter clothes with her arms outstretched as the wind blew through her blue hair. Robin found himself grinning, his daughter's good cheer contagious.

"Dad, c'mon!" Emm pouted, crossing her arms and glowering at the slower man.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Robin assured her. "I just… need a chance to mentally prepare myself…"

The little girl disappeared into one of the storefronts, and as Robin stepped onto the small wooden step and pushed the door open his ears were assaulted by a familiar squeal.

"Emmy!" Anna cried happily as she lifted the smaller girl into a giant hug, her voice so shrill it made Robin wince.

"Miss Anna!" Emm responded, returning the hug.

"Morning, Anna. And no, I did not bring my wallet," Robin greeted, closing the shop's door behind him.

"Liar," Anna snorted. "I can hear you jingling from here."

Robin grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. "Just… be gentle."

Anna winked, plopping Emm down on the countertop and holding her index finger to her cheek in her signature pose. In fact, she was still wearing the same red and yellow travel clothes she always did, too. In fact she hadn't aged at all in the last five years.

"Oh Robin, you know I'm always gentle," she practically purred.

"I'm telling Lucina," he deadpanned in response, crossing his arms and sinking to a hip.

Anna blinked a few times before laughing nervously. Lucina was, unsurprisingly, a little territorial when it came to Robin, something that Anna and Tharja had both learned early into their married life, much to Robin's great amusement at the time. Anna's chronic flirting made dealing with her that much easier.

"Discount?" the merchant said, smiling weakly.

"That's more like it," the tactician laughed, clapping his hands together.

"Yay!" Emm said, clapping in emulation of her father.

"Yay," Anna repeated with much less enthusiasm as she lifted Emm down to the ground.

"I've got some new inventory in the green-marked boxes out the back I think you might like," she added to the little girl. "If you find something nice I'll teach you how to haggle while your daddy pays for it."

"Kay!" Emm said, darting off like a shot.

Robin shook his head and chuckled, moving to lean against the countertop.

Anna's shop was a general store; there were all kinds of things, from preserved foods to hardware supplies and clothes. All of it was laid out on the first floor of the building, with a small flat above it for the self-proclaimed 'merchant queen's' quarters.

"So… while you're here…" Anna said, sidling up to Robin with her abacus already in hand.

"Yeah, yeah, just take it," Robin groaned, plopping his small coin purse down on the countertop.

He did need to look into ordering a few things anyway… even if Anna was the merchant equivalent of a shark in bloody water at this point.

* * *

><p>"So how's business?" Robin asked idly almost an hour later.<p>

They had been doing some serious 'negotiating' for the supplies Robin wanted, and while his wallet wasn't quite as empty as he'd been expecting it was still far lighter than when he'd come into the store. Anna was just running the last of her numbers now, triple checking her work so that neither she nor Robin would be out of pocket. Robin hated to admit it, but at least Anna was a trustworthy merchant.

The red-headed woman mumbled something incoherent, adding up numbers and doing math in her head the same way Robin came up with tactical responses.

"It's good," she said at last, tapping one final bead across her little abacus before setting it down. "Like I said, you do wonders for a town. More and more people are moving here, and I'm perfectly set up here on the edge of the market to cater to everyone! I knew following you around for so long would pay off in spades! I'm thinking of getting an addition done out back, making my living space a little bigger."

"You'd just fill it with more stock…" Robin chuckled.

He was going to say more about her insane hoarding habits, but he trailed off when he saw the group of armed guards walking through the marketplace. Which was strange, considering that Nauta only had a volunteer civilian militia rather than a dedicated platoon of town guards.

"What's going on?" Anna asked, instantly pulling two daggers out from beneath her counter and handing one to Robin.

"I dunno," he muttered, before shouting over his shoulder, "Emm honey, I need you to stay in that back room until I come get you, okay?"

"Kay!" was his daughter's immediate response.

Apparently she had found something really interesting back there. She hadn't been out to bug Anna or Robin since she'd disappeared.

The two Shepherds crossed the store, stepping out onto the street without even a hint of hesitation. Robin wasn't training the way he used to, but he didn't doubt he could take all of these guys with one hand tied behind his back. Anna was no slouch, either, so he knew they'd be fine.

"Gentlemen!" Robin called out to the soldiers. "What seems to be the problem?"

As one the soldiers, all Feroxi men Robin noted, turned to look back at the two foreigners stepping into the street behind them. There was a tense moment of silence as they eyed off, before it was broken by a familiar voice.

"Robin!" a woman called out. "I've been looking everywhere for- gah, dammit, get out of my way!"

Pushing to the front of the soldiers was an older woman in red and silver armour, her tan skin at odds with her messy blonde hair. A massive two-handed sword was strapped to her back, its golden blade glinting in the afternoon sunlight.

"Flavia?" Robin asked, lowering his guard. "What's wrong? And why do you still have Ragnell?"

"Later," the reigning Khan said brusquely. "I need to talk to you now. And it's important."

Flavia looked flustered to Robin, which was a rare sight indeed. Outwardly she looked the same as always, but her shoulders were tense and her posture stiff, and she wasn't smiling her usual confident grin. Something was very wrong.

"Okay, okay," Robin said, turning back to Anna's store. "Just let me get Emm and we can… uh…"

He stopped, Anna and Flavia behind him staring at the spectacle on the merchant's doorstep. Emm was looking up at them from beneath the rim of a leather skull cap at least twice her size, cradling a large morning-star in her arms so heavy it looked like she was about to collapse beneath it.

"Daddy I want these ones," she said to the stunned adults.

Flavia burst out laughing, slapping Robin on the back before doubling over and holding her sides; a few of the closer Feroxi guards were chuckling along, too. Anna just laughed nervously, bending down to take the morning-star from the child.

"I thought I put the weapons in the red-marked crates…" she muttered, holding the mace and grinning guiltily at Robin.

"Well, she's definitely her mother's daughter," Robin sighed, bending down to pick the small child up.

"You can have a mace when you're older," he told her. "But… you can keep the helmet."

"At cost," Anna pitched in.

"Yay!" Emm cheered, throwing her arms up as the helmet wobbled on her head.

* * *

><p>Robin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the table in his office. Beside him Lucina was standing with one hand cupping her chin, the other supporting her elbow as she thought about their predicament. Across from them Aversa looked similarly perturbed, but held back on her usual sarcasm as Flavia, in the chair next to her, looked fit to burst. Anna just watched the proceedings from the back of the room, Emm sitting comfortably on her lap completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere, still fiddling with her oversized helmet. Sahiri was out keeping the students busy, so Robin would have to catch her up on events later.<p>

"The whole town?" Robin asked again.

Flavia grunted and nodded, crossing her arms.

"The bastards came in, killed the guard and took over," she spat. "It's in my territory, so the oaf doesn't want to send any of his warriors to help. Which is fine anyway, because I've got plenty of bodies, but…"

"Then why come to us?" Lucina asked at last.

"I have a guess," Aversa drawled, rolling her eyes.

"I can't lead every squad at once," Flavia admitted sourly. "We're still trying to rebuild the clan armies. There's just not enough officers left to go around. I was hoping a few of your kids were ready for some field experience."

A sizeable army of bandits had moved from the south, burning villages before assaulting and taking over the logging city of Silva in one night. The city guards were all dead, and Flavia was chomping at the bit to retake her city. A lot of lumber, one of the main sources of income for Eastern Regna Ferox, came from Silva, not to mention the fact that bandit attacks like this had become much more common in the unrest during the whole Valm Liberation Campaign. Army deserters and criminals always made the trek north to the unforgiving forests of Regna Ferox, where the southern nations had no authority. Most became bandits, returning to their home nations as plunderers and ending up arrested and executed anyway, but a few remained in Regna Ferox to cause trouble. Trouble that Robin's students weren't ready to deal with yet.

"Absolutely not," Robin said without a second thought about Flavia's request. "They're good, and some of them have seen combat, but they're not ready for command yet. I understand this is a problem, Flavia, but these kids aren't soldiers. They're tacticians."

The Khan twitched, leaning forward to glare at the tactician.

"You understand?" she growled. "My people are dying, Robin! For Naga's sake, I grew up in that town! Don't you dare try to tell me you understand!"

"Alright, poor choice of words," Robin said calmingly. "Look, I didn't say we wouldn't help, I just said that the kids weren't ready for command yet."

"So…" Flavia prompted.

"I'll admit my students need actual field experience," Robin explained, standing up. "Therefore I'll bring my advanced class with me and advise your army myself. Objections?"

"None," Flavia said with a predatory grin, her mood doing a full one-eighty. "That's far better than I was hoping for, honestly."

"We'll advise your army," Lucina amended her husband, placing one hand on his shoulder.

Robin glanced up to her, and she gave a confident nod. She had that look in her eye that Robin knew better than to argue with, so he simply shrugged and grinned back at Flavia.

"Right, well, you have fun with that," Aversa sighed lazily. "I'll keep your seat warm until you get back…"

"Oh, you're coming, too," Robin added as an afterthought.

"Oh joy," Aversa groaned, rolling her eyes. "How did I know you would say that?"

"I'm in, too!" Anna volunteered from the back of the room.

"Me too!" Emm piped up.

"I think you're a bit young yet, squirt," Flavia laughed over her shoulder. "But I like your enthusiasm."

Robin grinned wider, stretching out his neck as he reached back for the rapier sitting on the sideboard beneath his window. It was a beautiful sword, similar to the one Chrom had given him when they had first met, but of an even higher quality. Its deep blue scabbard matched Lucina's hair, no doubt done on purpose by her father, and just beneath where the hilt sat on it the Mark of Naga, the symbol of House Ylisse, was carved.

"Emm honey, you stay here and watch the fort," he said as he strapped the weapon to his hip. "Keep Sahiri and the others out of trouble, okay?"

"Okay," the girl mumbled dejectedly before perking back up. "That means I'm in charge, right?"

"You and Sahiri share the top spot," Robin said with a grin. "But not my office."

Lucina walked over and took the girl from Anna, lifting her up and holding her.

"Why don't we go and find Sahiri to tell her that you'll both be in charge?" the blue-haired woman said as her daughter smiled happily.

"Sure!" Emm agreed.

The mother and daughter duo left the room, Anna practically swooning at what she obviously found to be an adorable display.

"She's such a well behaved child!" the merchant crowed. "I want one!"

"Make your own, then," Robin scoffed, crossing his arms and sinking to a hip. "Besides, it's an act. She's too smart for her own damn good."

"Yes, especially considering the toddler outsmarts the hero-tactician on a daily basis," Aversa drawled.

Flavia burst out laughing at this information, Anna trying and failing not to do the same. Robin cast a withering glare at his sister, who gave an innocent shrug before grinning into the corner, trying to hide it by facing away from him.

"Yeah, yeah, real funny. Everyone get your things together," Robin said irritatedly. "Flavia, we'll meet you at Silva. Do not, under any circumstances, assault the city until we meet you there. Understood?"

"Aye, commander," the Khan said with a sarcastic salute.

"Aversa, I want you to meet Anna at her shop and travel with her. Lucina's going to join you, too. Get to the city first and start organizing Flavia's troops. I'll come after with the students once you have a handle on things."

"Right, right," Aversa groaned. "Make us do all the work."

"I don't mind a little work," Anna said excitedly.

"But it's gonna cost you," she added with another wink at Robin.

"Doesn't it always?" he sighed, sinking back into his chair. "You all have your roles. Go on. I have some lesson plans to write up for Sahiri before I leave."

The three women left the room quickly after that, already switching into work-mode as they discussed the journey to Silva. Now that he was alone Robin let out a sigh, massaging his temples and wishing to Naga that Chrom could be here with him. With deft movements Robin pulled the back-up lesson plans he kept on hand for just such an occasion out of his desk and sat them on top of his table.

"I assume you got all that?" he asked the empty office after a moment.

"'Course I did, Bubbles," came the reply from the shadow of one of Robin's great bookshelves. "That Khan speaks pretty damn loud. I'd be surprised if Panne hadn't heard her outside, too."

A thin, lanky man with ginger hair stepped into the light streaming in from Robin's window, his sleeveless dark leathers and pale flesh covered by a thick travelling cloak. Gaius gave Robin a reassuring grin as he leaned against the teacher's desk lazily, letting out a theatrical sigh.

Since Grima's defeat Gaius had gone back to a life of barely-legal work, something that Chrom and Robin both pretended not to notice. In fact Robin knew that Gaius made his hideout in Nauta somewhere with his wife Panne, if only because Panne spent a lot of time helping Lucina with the tactician-students' physical training. The tactician pretended not to notice the sheer amount of stolen goods in the marketplace, too, mostly because the trade-off of the duo often working as his eyes and ears when something happened in the world was totally worth it. Say'ri and Morgan had Seiko and her network of spies. Chrom had Frederick running an official intelligence network with Morgan. Robin had the sugar-addicted pseudo-thief.

"Then I assume you already know what I'm about to ask you to do?" Robin asked, emulating the man's grin as he rose out of his chair.

"Something stupid, no doubt?" Gaius sighed.

"Yeah, but we both know you love stupid," Robin chuckled, giving the thief a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I want you to get there ahead of the girls and case the town. Find where the bandits are hiding, try and get some resistance happening; they're Feroxi, so it won't be hard to rile them up. But I need intel above all else. Think you can handle it?"

"You know what I want to hear," Gaius said expectantly.

Robin sighed, stepping back from the other man and running a hand through his hair.

"I'll tell Lucina to make a batch of those honey-cakes before we leave," he said, feigning defeat.

"That's more like it," Gaius clapped, hopping off Robin's desk and walking to the door. "Maybe you should'a stuck with politics, Bubbles. You sure know how to motivate people."

Robin just laughed and shook his head as the occasional-thief-occasional-spy slipped out of his office, leaving only a faint aroma of sugar in his wake.

* * *

><p>"Didja hear the rumours?" Rance asked excitedly, wincing as he eased himself into an armchair. "Bandits in the east- argh, damn that bunny-woman!"<p>

"Man, she kicks your butt every time," Isaac snickered across from him.

Opposite the two boys Mariko sat, silently drinking her customary evening tea and listening intently to the conversation.

The three students were sitting in the small common room they shared; a converted officer's space that had once housed the fort's junior officer staff at some point back when Ylisse had occupied that part of Regna Ferox. A small fireplace crackled in one corner, and four armchairs were arranged facing one another around a low table that the students could study or relax at.

"That's not the point," Rance said, leaning forward. "We're talking our first real mission, here!"

"You should not be so quick to seek violence," Mariko said in a soft voice, possibly speaking for the first time that day.

She was always quiet; at first the three boys had thought that she couldn't understand them and there was a language barrier, but after a while they realised that she only spoke when necessary. No matter how often Rance hit on her.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, anyway," Galle said, walking shirtless out of his room as he dried his hair. "We're probably just going to be watching."

Rance huffed, leaning back in his chair and wincing again with a swift local curse as the Plegian boy stood near the fire.

"Ah! You know for a Plegian, you're pretty pale," the Feroxi pointed out with a grin.

"And for a Feroxi you're especially stupid," Galle replied without skipping a beat.

"C'mon guys, let's not fight," Isaac sighed. "For a change, anyway. We're shipping out tomorrow, save the negativity for the bandits."

Mariko nodded slowly before taking another sip from her tea.

Galle rolled his eyes, frowning and letting his towel rest around his shoulders.

"Aw, I'm only playin'," Rance snickered, before growing serious again. "But do you think we'll actually, you know, be on the front lines?"

"One track mind," Galle muttered, rolling his eyes again.

"A tactician leads from the front where they can adapt strategies as needed," Mariko quoted softly, placing her now empty cup on the table.

"I'd take that as a yes," Isaac said, breaking into a grin. "I'm actually kinda excited, too. Nervous, but excited. Wasn't Morgan our age when she joined the Shepherds?"

"Yup," Rance sighed. "She got the one-on-one experience with Robin. Maybe that's what I need? A little one-on-one time."

"What, with Robin?" Isaac asked curiously.

"No, with Morgan!" Rance said excitedly. "She's a fine lady! I'd love to get a little one-on-one time with her, if you catch my meaning!"

Galle and Isaac both groaned and rolled their eyes. Mariko sighed, the motion little more than the act of exhaling on her, before she gracefully rose to her feet and cast a glare down at Rance.

"Rance no baka," she said before spinning on her heel and disappearing into her room.

"What did she just call me?" the Feroxi boy asked, raising one eyebrow as he watched the girl leave.

"I think the called you… baked?" Isaac guessed, scratching his head.

"She called you an idiot," Galle said, prodding Rance in the side of the head before turning to Isaac. "And you're not much better. Both of you get some sleep, we have to be up early tomorrow."

With that the Plegian boy turned and returned to his own room, now sufficiently dry after standing next to the fire.

"Who died and put you in charge?" Rance called after the other boy.

Isaac shook his head, reaching for the communal chess-board they all shared. Robin insisted that playing chess would help their tactics, but all it really did was help Isaac's self-esteem when he beat Rance every night they played.

"Fancy a game?" Isaac asked innocently.

"Fancy a chess-board shoved up your arse?" Rance growled, raising one brow.

"I'll wager my rations at tomorrow's camp," Isaac prompted.

Rance stared at the Ylissean boy for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly before he blew a breath out his nose.

"Fine. But I'm playing white this time."

* * *

><p>Robin stood at his window that evening, leaning with one arm against the frame and looking out over the dark forest. The moon was hidden by clouds, making the night outside of the lights of the fort almost impenetrable. A small shiver went up his spine as it brought to mind memories of the last time he was enveloped in darkness…<p>

The sound of small shuffling feet made Robin glance up from the window as Emm wandered into the room, freshly bathed and ready for bed.

"Daddy?" Emm asked sleepily. "What'cha looking at?"

"Just the forest, honey," Robin said softly.

Right now Lucina would be bathing herself after helping their daughter wash, so he would need to distract her for a little while. Emm nodded, wandering over to the window and standing on her toes to look out of it with him. They stood there silently watching the forest swaying in the night breeze, Robin crossing his arms and leaning with his back against the window frame while Emm rested her chin on the sill.

"It's spooky," she said eventually.

"What's spooky about it?" Robin asked.

"The dark," Emm replied. "It scares me."

Robin smiled and placed his hand on Emm's head.

"It's nothing to be scared of," he explained. "There's nothing out there in the night that isn't there during the day."

Emm stepped back from the window, looking up at her father and shaking her head.

"I like the night. I'm scared of the dark."

Robin raised an eyebrow before crouching down to his daughter's level.

"What do you mean, honey?" he asked softly.

Emm looked down before she held her hands up in a sort of bowl-shape. Robin had seen her do this before while Aversa had been teaching the toddler the earliest forms of mana manipulation. She could make a few sparks or embers already, even blow a few breezes. It was impressive, but not unheard of for gifted mages to start so young.

But much to Robin's surprise a small wisp of purple smoke flared to life between the girl's hands. Her face scrunched up as she focused for a few seconds before the dark magic flickered and lashed out, snapping at her fingers. With a yelp she drew her hands back and the spell blinked out.

"See?" she asked, looking up at Robin with teary eyes.

He nodded, pulling her close into a comforting hug and rubbing her back.

"Aw, is that why you don't like the dark?" he asked.

Emm sniffled and nodded into his chest.

"Well that's because Dark Magic isn't something to be playing with," he told her. "How long have you been able to do that?"

"I dunno," she said sulkily. "… it's easier than nature magic."

"It is for me, too," Robin explained. "But it's not without its cost. I'll let Auntie Tharja explain it properly next time we go to visit, but until then you have to promise not to use it, okay?"

Emm nodded again.

"I promise. But… what about Auntie Aversa?" she asked. "She's a sorcer… sorcer…ess too, right?"

Robin couldn't help but smile as his daughter tried to wrap her mouth around the difficult word.

"She is," he said. "But I'd rather you learn it from Auntie Tharja. When you're old enough I'll even send you to her school for a few months to learn it properly if you want."

Emm nodded, thinking carefully.

"So all I have to do is not use it for now?" she asked.

"Yup," Robin said, ruffling her hair a little. "That's it. Do nothing and you'll be fine. Just stick to helping Sahiri while your mother and I are gone and forget about Dark Magic until you're older."

"Kay," Emm said, her smile returning.

"Now why don't we surprise your mother by getting you into bed before she comes back from her bath?" Robin asked, grinning a little as he rose to his feet.

"Kay," Emm said, hopping a little. "But you have to read a story first!"

"Alright, alright," Robin conceded, leading his daughter to her room. "What do you want tonight? Wyvern Wars or…"

"A Beginner's Guide to Tactics!" Emm said excitedly.

Robin stopped for a moment before smiling down to his daughter.

"Okay, A Beginner's Guide to Tactics it is!"

* * *

><p>"Emm's starting to realise she can cast Dark Magic," Robin said without preamble as he stepped into his and Lucina's bedroom later.<p>

Lucina looked up with a shocked expression from where she was brushing her hair on the edge of the bed.

"Is she okay?" she asked, standing and tossing her brush aside.

"She's fine," Robin said soothingly. "I explained to her that she shouldn't use it until Tharja teaches her how to do it properly, and she promised she wouldn't."

Lucina let out a breath, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

"Good," she said. "I'd honestly prefer she not learn it at all, though."

Robin grinned sadly, running a hand through his hair and over behind his left ear. The skin was blackened and cracked under the hair behind his ear, a side-effect of over-use of Dark Magic. Tharja and Henry both had it, too; Tharja on her back near her right shoulder and Henry around the scars that the Deadlord Simia had left on him. It was the price all combat Dark Mages eventually paid, consumed by the very magics they wielded. Fortunately, though, Morgan and Noire had been thus far spared the disfigurement that came with using Dark Magic for extended periods.

"I know," Robin sighed, moving and settling down on the bed next to his wife. "But she's a curious girl. She's going to do it anyway, so we may as well make sure she gets the best training possible so that nothing goes wrong. The last thing we need is for her to lose a finger or something playing with forces she doesn't understand."

Lucina nodded, leaning over to the side and resting her head on Robin's shoulder.

"She's my daughter, after all," he added. "And we've both seen how good Morgan is with Dark Magic. We knew this would happen eventually."

"But it's so soon," Lucina sighed.

They sat there in silence for a few moments, winding down from the day and basking in each other's company before Robin chuckled a little. Lucina glanced up to him curiously, only making him smile more.

"I just spent half an hour reading Emm the introduction to A Beginner's Guide to Tactics," he said by way of explanation.

Lucina let out a small laugh, standing and retrieving her brush.

"Well, she is your daughter," she repeated before giving him an expectant look. "Now, are you going to brush your own hair or…?"

Robin winced, hands automatically going to cover his shoulder-length white hair.

"Woman, keep that death-machine away from me," he said, scooting further along the bed.

"Do we really have to do this every night?" Lucina asked exasperatedly. "We have to be up early tomorrow to march. We don't have time for this. Brush it or cut it."

"I choose death!" Robin declared.

"I can arrange that," Lucina deadpanned, glaring at Robin and holding out the brush.

Robin shook his head, crossing his arms and taking on the same tone his daughter used when she was being difficult.

"Make me," he pouted, sticking his tongue out at Lucina.

* * *

><p>Aversa resisted the urge to sigh as she moved towards the suite Robin and his family used, shuffling through the papers and reports that Flavia had had delivered. The Khan was right that she had plenty of soldiers, but had managed to omit the part about having literally no command structure for her forces.<p>

Usually Aversa would have had no problem organising troop rosters and squad divisions, but she had only done such for the Plegian army. Regna Ferox was known as a more… free-spirited nation, and she didn't want to put the effort in only to have it go to waste.

Which was how she found herself slinking into her brother's suite to ask him a few questions regarding the usual Feroxi army organisational method.

She crossed the sitting room that branched off into the two bedrooms and the bathroom, noticing with satisfaction that the fireplace was still warm, so Robin wouldn't have been long retired. She would just poke her head into his room, ask a few questions and…

"Get off me, demon-woman! Stop! Stop before you tear my head off!"

"Oh shut up before you wake Emm!"

"Help! Help! Somebody-ARGH!"

Aversa blinked, wondering what kind of depravity her brother and his wife were getting up to as she nudged the door open.

Robin and Lucina looked up like startled deer, clad in their pyjamas and flushed from exertions. Lucina was straddling Robin, the tactician trying desperately to keep her hands off of his head, a hairbrush hanging off his head in his dishevelled hair.

"Sis, save me!" Robin cried, desperately trying to wriggle out from under his wife.

"I don't even want to know," Aversa said, pivoting and closing the door before she left the suite.

"No! Don't leave me!" he cried after her.

"You're worse than a child!" Lucina practically shouted. "Just let me brush your hair!"

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Robin shouted, his cry echoing through the fort and into the night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And with that recurring joke I'm rounding out 2014! Happy Non-Denominational WinterSummer Gift Giving Day, guys. And Happy New Year! Stay safe this holiday season, and see you in 2015 with (hopefully) new material and new chapters! Until then I'ma go sit on the beach and drink egg nog! Whoop-whoop! The nog-train makes no stops!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

**STOP EVERYTHING. A NEW FIRE EMBLEM GAME HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. AND NEW MANGA AND TRADING CARDS, TOO!? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY, JAPAN!**

**Aaaaaaand we're back! Sorry about the delay, folks. However in this space of time I haven't been writing Fire Emblem I've managed to get off not one but TWO entries to the Black Library! One I feel pretty good about, one I'm not so sure about. So I'm working on the **_**Invisible Ties DX **_**project, too; chapters 1 – 3 are done now (4 should be up tonight or tomorrow), and I'm dropping all other FF projects. Not like anyone cares about more than Fire Emblem right now, anyway! Sorry to any **_**Diablo**_** or **_**Fate**_** series lurker-fans; you should have spoken up sooner. It's a bit of a shorter chapter this time; kinda setting up for the first big confrontation next chapter. Again, probably not the best chapter I've written, but I'm sick of sitting on it. **

**While he doesn't get a lot of screen-time this chapter, the new OC will be important to the coming story (like they all freaking are). There's one more important OC student coming next chapter, too, and she's going to be one of the main players in this arc of the story. **

**Read, review and Nagaspeed!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2 ~ 2 Years Ago<strong>

In the forests of Regna Ferox time seemingly passed in its own fashion, unbeknownst to mankind. The rivers and trees followed the cycle of the seasons, not the whims of man and his calendars. Ancient trees knew not the world of man, standing strong and stalwart against mother nature as she assailed them with-

"Owain! W-what are y-you doing?"

In the forests of Regna Ferox a short-haired blonde boy glanced up with a frown, his interior monologue interrupted. He sat in a small campsite in the shade of an old oak tree, which had prompted his thoughts down their current path, a single tent sitting beside the fire he was currently huddled against the chill next to.

Owain's momentary flash of childish irritation passed though, his face breaking into a great smile as his fated companion walked into the campsite through the trees, shivering and drying her long red hair with a towel.

"Gawd-ds it's f-freezing!" Severa complained loudly, sitting down on the log next to Owain.

She scooted closer to him, pressing herself up against him to share their meagre warmth.

"Er… I get that you don't like to smell bad, Severa, but bathing in rivers in this temperature is just…" Owain said hesitantly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Severa was a vain woman that took a great amount of pride in her appearance; which Owain didn't usually mind, but when she was taking a bath in half-frozen meltwater for the sake of beauty he drew the line.

"Sh-shut up," Severa grunted, wrapping her towel around her hair and pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders. "I didn't… didn't actually get in the w-water. I just… needed to w-wash my hair. It's your fault for getting us lost again anyway!"

Owain couldn't help but smirk at his companion's fiery tone; her tongue may have been sharp, but beneath her barbed words lay a loving and caring woman.

"I know," he sighed apologetically, rubbing Severa's opposite shoulder to spread a little more warmth.

They had set out together from Ylisstol nearly three years ago now. Owain had declared it a journey to 'stay his sword hand', and Severa had begrudgingly decided to tag along with her lover, but that had only been a front. They had tried to settle down, join the Ylissean City Guard and even remain as Shepherds, but nothing had felt right.

This wasn't their timeline, and as hard as they had tried to make it so, it just wasn't their home.

However as far as Owain was concerned anywhere Severa went was his home, so it didn't bother him as much, but he worried that his companion might long for more stability, for a place they could call their own. While they travelled, righting wrongs all over the world, Owain was paying close attention looking for such a place for her.

"L-let me see the map," Severa demanded, her cold-induced stutter beginning to fade slightly.

"Not until you finish warming up," Owain chided. "If my fated companion dies of frost-bite who will sing of my glory when we finally get to Silva and rescue the townspeople?"

Severa's face went instantly red as she glared up at the taller man, a look of intense embarrassment on her face.

"That was one time!" she shouted hysterically. "We were drinking! And you promised to never bring it up again!"

Owain burst into raucous laughter, almost falling off the log as Severa beat her fists against him indignantly. As his laugher quieted Severa huffed and scooted away from him a little, facing away with her cheeks still darkened. They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before the red-haired girl glanced over her shoulder shyly.

"I'm still cold over here," Severa grumbled, making Owain laugh a little again.

"Sorry dear," he said, shifting closer to and wrapping an arm around her again.

They would set off again once Severa wasn't at risk of freezing to death. Owain was sure that after three days the people of Silva could wait another twenty minutes for their salvation.

* * *

><p>Robin glanced up from where he was busily trying to cram one last book in his pack, one of Lucina's honey-cakes hanging out of his mouth and wobbling with the movement, as he heard footsteps approaching.<p>

"Morning, Van," the master-tactician said brightly around a mouthful of cake. "Kinda early to be up, isn't it?"

The young boy in question, a handsome young man wearing leather training gear over a blue Ylissean Officer Cadet's tunic shrugged as he stepped into the fort's entryway, his long yellow scarf flapping in the wind. Van was one of Robin's students from his second-tier class; older than most of the other students but still too inexperienced to join the advanced group. He had been a student in the Ylissean Officer's Academy before Frederick had singled him out to be sent to Robin's school, and as good a tactician as he was shaping up to be Robin couldn't help but feel that he was depriving Ylisse of a gifted frontline commander.

"I like to train early," the boy admitted, running a hand over short, spiky black hair. "Force of habit from Officer's School."

"I'd ask if you want a sparring partner, but I don't think we'll get through a full round before I have to leave," Robin said apologetically.

Van made a dismissive sound, waving a hand through the air.

"It's fine, sir," he assured his teacher. "Besides, Isaac still sleeps like a rock. I wouldn't be surprised if he's late like usual."

Robin snorted, suppressing a laugh. The two boys had history; Van had been a senior cadet at the Ylissean Officer's Academy that they had both attended when Isaac had just enrolled. He'd even been the one to suggest that Isaac apply to the newly formed Tactician School two years ago before joining Isaac himself the previous year. His friendship with the younger boy was strange, though; Isaac wasn't just baseborn, he was a war-orphan. Both parents had died in the war with Plegia seven years ago leaving him to be brought up in the Ylisstol Orphanage; and the only reason he had even warranted that treatment was because his mother had been one of Lady Phila's Pegasus Knights, otherwise he would have been tossed out onto the streets and left to fend for himself. Van was the son of a minor Ylissean noble; a land-owned that had apparently done some favour for Chrom's father and been knighted in return. Such friendships rarely happened outside of the Shepherds.

"Well then perhaps you had best run some laps then to warm up," Robin suggested, taking another bite of his honey-cake.

Van grinned a little as he drifted towards the fort's gates.

"Sure thing, sir," he said brightly. "I'll be sure to do that while you stuff your face with sweets."

Robin choked on his cake as Van laughed, wandering into the courtyard to begin running his swordsmanship warm-up drills.

"Hey, I slayed the Dark Dragon, dammit!" Robin called after his student. "If I want to eat a honey-cake, I'll eat the damn cake!"

Robin huffed before stuffing the last of the cake into his mouth and chewing vigorously. He stopped mid-chew when something moving in the corner of his eye caught his attention, spinning to find Mariko standing and waiting patiently for the others with her arms crossed in the corner of the hall.

"How long have you been there?" Robin asked around another mouthful of cake.

"Not long," she said softly.

Robin quirked a brow, forcing the cake down his throat but not questioning his student further. He glanced down at the book still in one of his hands before looking back up at Mariko.

"Hey Mari-chan…" he started, trailing off as she held her open bag out towards him.

"Did I ever mention you're my favourite?" Robin chuckled, slipping his last book into her bag.

"I heard that," Galle deadpanned, stepping into the hall with a perpetual sour look on his face.

* * *

><p>Emmeryn sighed under the rim of her skull cap, leaning against the windowsill as she watched her dad and his older students walking away towards the forest. Her mom, her aunt and Miss Anna had all left earlier that morning, before she'd even woken up.<p>

With another sigh as her dad and the others disappeared into the forest she moved away from the window, towards where Sahiri was sitting on the sofa and going through some papers.

It wasn't a strange thing, her parents leaving, but usually they took her with them. She liked going to Ylisstol to see her Grandpa and Grandma; she liked going to Plegia to see her Auntie Tharja, even if she was kinda scary; she even liked going to the Coliseum to see Flavia, because the old Feroxi lady always gave her sweets when no one was looking. It was even more fun when Basilio was there; she loved the way that the old man would sit her on his knee and tell her long stories about how he had fought alongside her parents.

This was the first time they had left her behind, though, and it made her sad.

The door opened while she was halfway across the room, causing her to pause as one of the other students, the Ylissean boy Van, walked into the room.

"Reporting as ordered, ma'am," He said, snapping to a smart salute.

"We're not in the army anymore, Van," Sahiri said, waving him down. "You can relax."

"Sorry, ma'am," he said somewhat sheepishly. "Force of habit. You wanted to see me?"

Sahiri nodded, placing the papers down and gesturing for Van to sit. Emm padded over as well, hopping up onto the sofa next to the older woman; her dad had told her to help Sahiri while he was gone. Van's face lit up in a huge grin when he spotted Emm, making the young girl blush slightly.

"Heya, Emm," he said cheerfully. "I like the hat."

"It's a helmet," she corrected him.

"So it is," Van laughed. "You here to keep Sahiri in line?"

Emm nodded, the helmet wobbling and eliciting another laugh out of the young man as Sahiri looked on with a wistful smile on her face.

"Alright, onto business," Emm declared after a moment's pause, looking to Sahiri.

"Well, as the young miss says," Sahiri chuckled, facing Van again. "Van I called you here to ask for your help."

"Anything," he offered quickly.

"The fact of the matter is sir Robin left detailed lesson plans for both remaining classes," Sahiri explained. "And only one instructor."

"I… see," Van said thoughtfully.

"I was hoping you could help me by taking care of the younger class while I continue teaching yours," Sahiri said hopefully. "You already have the leadership training, and you're ahead of the other students. In fact I'm sure the only reason sir Robin left you here rather than ask you to accompany him was to help me."

Van went silent for a moment, holding his chin and nodding a few times in contemplation. Emm watched the subtle shifts in his posture and twitches to his face as he obviously seriously considered Sahiri's request for a moment before becoming distracted by the urge to play with his long scarf. It was such a pretty scarf…

"Well, I said anything," Van said at last. "But I do this on the condition that I get to see the notes from my own class in the evenings once I finish with the third class."

"Agreed," Sahiri said, passing a stack of papers to him.

"Just think of it like a temporary field promotion," she added as Van started going over the words written in Emm's dad's handwriting.

"Welcome to the team, Van!" she said excitedly, holding her hand out to him to shake.

Van smiled again as he shook her hand, Sahiri looking on approvingly. Even if her parents were gone for now Emm realised that she wouldn't be lonely as long as these two, the other students and even the four guards that worked for Sahiri were all still around.

* * *

><p>Robin took a deep breath, smiling as he exhaled a cloud of white mist into the chilly morning air. Invigorated, the tactician hitched his pack higher up on his back and grinned over his shoulder at the small crowd following him.<p>

"What're you so happy about?" Rance muttered darkly, still half-asleep so early in the morning.

Beside him Isaac let out a mighty yawn, throwing his head back and covering his mouth with his hand.

"It's freezing," Galle muttered grumpily from the rear of the group. "I thought winter was supposed to be over…"

"Winter's never over this far north," Robin laughed. "It just gets slightly less cold."

Isaac visibly shivered as Rance yawned this time; the two foreign boys seemingly still having trouble adjusting to the cold. Mariko, as always, was utterly unfazed by the temperature, standing next to Robin in her travelling clothes and lacquered Chon'sin breastplate under a thick cloak. Isaac and Galle were dressed similarly, the only difference between them being the Plegian's predilection for black over Isaac's favouring of earth-tones, while Rance was just dressed the way he always was.

Robin had to admit, though, that it was a strange feeling seeing his students carrying real weapons for a change. They each had a spellbook strapped to their hip the same way he always did, but they also each had their own weapons reflecting their own individuality.

Mariko wore a long, thin katana, as most of the warriors from her homeland did. Robin had seen her training with polearms and sickles as well, not to mention her prodigious skill with throwing knives. However, for this mission she would be paired up with Aversa in an attempt to get the younger woman to rely more on her magical abilities.

Isaac walked around with a greatsword strapped to his back, easily wider than Robin's arm and nearly as long as he was tall. The young Ylissean had apparently made the sword himself during his brief period as a blacksmith's apprentice, and from all the training Robin had seen used the weapon quite skilfully. His skill with magic was good for someone of his level, too, so he would be sent with Lucina once they reached Silva.

Rance had twin tomahawks strapped to his hips, and a larger two-handed axe on his back. His fighting style was the epitome of Feroxi warfare, too; loud, messy and brutal. He fought quick and dirtily with his twin axes, and could probably cut clean through a plate of armour with one swing of his bigger axe. However, he lacked subtlety, which was why he would be paired up with Anna for the duration of the mission.

Which left Galle, who had a simple short-sword strapped to his belt, to be paired with Robin. The Plegian, wandering along at the back of the group and shivering beneath his old Dark Mage's robes, was decent with a sword, but unlike the other three he already excelled at magecraft. So Robin would be nudging him a little more towards the sword for this mission.

"Hey Teach, got any old war stories you can tell us to pass the time?" Rance asked, clearly already bored.

"Please don't call me 'Teach'," Robin groaned. "Ever. And are you seriously bored already?"

"He has a short attention span," Galle deadpanned from the back of the group.

"Fine," Robin sighed, wary of Rance, who was currently glaring daggers at Galle's back, starting a fight if left to his own devices. "Which one do you want to hear?"

* * *

><p>Owain grinned beneath the hood of his cloak as he and Severa blended into the crowded main street of Silva, right under the noses of the invading bandits. Or the occupying bandits, Owain reminded himself. He didn't have to look to know Severa was at his shoulder, her own travelling hood pulled low to hide her bright red hair.<p>

The blonde Ylissean prince from the future liked to think that he had matured a little in the last few years; gone were the days where he tried to cope with the horror he'd been put through growing up by escaping into his imagination, although he still acted out his old persona out of habit or boredom sometimes. He liked to think that people such as Severa, his cousin Lucina and her husband Robin, who was also Owain's old master, had had a calming effect on his personality over the years, too. Where before he would have simply started screaming challenges at the city gates and killed every bandit that crossed his path, he had been calmly wandering around, getting a grasp on the situation instead.

They had entered the city earlier that morning, and had been casing it ever since.

The crowd shifted uneasily through the streets of the marketplace, quiet for a Feroxi crowd; which of course meant that Owain could still barely hear himself think the patrons and merchants were screaming at each other so loud, but the mood was muted and the murderous thugs wandering around the press did nothing to improve it.

Burly, dirty men carrying axes and looking even more threatening than the average resident of Eastern Ferox pushed their way slowly through the crowd in a group, ignoring the startled yelps of people too slow to get out of their way and simply taking what they wanted from the vendors around them; fruit, bread and trinkets all disappeared into their pouches, and not one stood up to stop them.

"I know what you're thinking," Severa whispered in his ear. "And you're an idiot. So let's get this over with."

Owain grinned over his shoulder at her, moving to pull his hood back as he stepped forward only to find himself being tugged into a nearby alleyway with a hand clamped firmly over his mouth. Severa, too, was being man-handled into the alley, but Owain calmed when he caught a glimpse of the woman shoving at his companion.

"Sword-hand, if you blow my cover I'll be very upset," Gaius whispered into Owain's ear as he released the blonde boy. "Subtlety is clearly not your strong-suit. Heya, Red-Junior. How's it going?"

Severa grunted as she pulled herself free of Panne's grip, silently readjusting her cloak with a venomous glare at the oblivious Taguel woman.

"Sir Gaius!" Owain said happily, shaking the older man's hand vigorously. "What are you doing here!?"

"Keep it down!" Gaius hissed, dragging Owain further back into the alleyway.

He looked around shiftily, making sure no one had heard them as Severa and Panne joined them in the shadows.

"I'm here to try and instigate a rebellion," Gaius whispered irritably. "And I don't need you making a scene in the marketplace to… make…"

The thief stopped for a moment, glancing around Owain into the passing crowd before letting out a sigh.

"What is it?" Owain asked excitedly. "Have you spotted the enemy!? Is he close!? My sword hand twitches!"

Panne quirked her head questioningly at her husband as Owain grasped at his wrist, attempting to subdue his sword-hand before it lashed out needlessly.

"What?" Severa asked Gaius, ignoring Owain.

"I was just thinking that this is Regna Ferox," Gaius said with another sigh. "And the best way to get Feroxians to revolt would be to simply stir em up with a good fight in a public place."

"I can do that," Owain said, growing suddenly still with anticipation. "I can do that right now!"

"Ah!" Gaius warned, grabbing Owain by the scruff as he attempted to return to the market. "Not yet! I have more recon work to do first! You can start a revolution tomorrow."

Severa huffed, crossing her arms and sinking to a hip.

"I think it would just be faster to let us in on what's going on right now before Owain bursts a blood vessel."

* * *

><p>"I'm so sick of walking!" Rance complained loudly, collapsing dramatically onto the log next to the fire.<p>

"Stop. Complaining," Galle groaned across the firepit, putting his face in his hands. "For the love of Grima if you don't shut up I swear I'll-"

"Who's hungry!?" Robin interrupted loudly, cutting off yet another fight before it could begin.

They had been walking all day, and were a little over three-quarters of the way to Silva. In the morning they would probably begin to come across the sentries Flavia would have positioned at her rear, but Robin didn't want to stumble on them at night. Everything he could do to avoid little accidents and keep these kids out of harm's way, he would do; including stopping them from tearing each other apart during the march.

He had told every war story he had; he had told a bunch of stories about the antics that he and Vaike had gotten up to in the early days; he had even held a verbal pop-quiz as they walked.

The problem was that Galle was too abrasive; Rance was too hot-headed; Isaac was a push-over and kept getting dragged into the arguments; and Mariko's existence had gone practically forgotten until he'd started quizzing them.

Robin had to remind himself that they were just kids; that once they started fighting alongside each other all the little things that bugged them about each other would look small in comparison. The students were from all corners of the globe, from all walks of life and were all vastly different to one and other; it was a miracle they got along at all in Robin's opinion. They all trusted each other with their lives, though; that was what happened after training together non-stop for two years. But they were still just irritating teenagers.

"Naga help me when Emm gets to their age," Robin muttered to himself as he bent over and stirred a large cooking pot.

Next to him there was a slight hitch in Mariko's calm breathing, her equivalent of a snort of laughter. Obviously she'd heard him; it was strange the way that the girl always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Sometimes it was like having two Sahiris around, which was a scary thought.

"What's on the menu?" Isaac asked curiously, the biggest of the students always being the first in line when there was food to be had.

"I made carrot stew," Robin said brightly, giving the contents of the pot one last stir. "It's an old specialty of mine, but it's been a while, so I hope it's okay."

"Carrot stew?" Rance asked, paling a little as thoughts of the beatings Panne gave him regularly obviously surfaced.

"I'm so hungry I'd eat dirt," Isaac said excitedly.

The blonde boy took an extra-large helping of the stew in his bowl before moving for Galle to get at the pot.

"Well help yourself," the Plegian deadpanned. "There's plenty to go- wow. What… is this?"

Galle poked at the concoction in his bowl without even bothering to hide to look of disdain on his face, stepping listlessly to one side as Rance shuffled forwards.

"Did you actually burn water!?" Rance asked incredulously, bursting into laughter.

"Look, eat it or go hungry," Robin warned.

"Forget it, I'm going hunting," Rance said as he tossed his wooden bowl back towards his pack and disappeared into the trees around them without a second thought.

"Fine, more for us, right Mari?" Robin stated, glancing over his shoulder.

Mariko's eyes widened slightly as her hands shot down, clearly trying to hide the thick travelling rye bread that she had been eating. She gave a quick nod, doing her best to subtly kick the bag of food she'd brought with her behind the rock she was perched on.

"Mari, you are no longer the favourite," Robin deadpanned, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Seconds please!" Isaac announced loudly, holding his bowl up in the air.

"See?" Robin said defensively to the others as the boy came forward again.

"Are you actually enjoying this… slop?" Galle asked in a shocked tone.

The pale Plegian made a face as he spooned some of the stew into his mouth, clearly trying not to gag or regurgitate the portion.

"No, it's gods-awful," Isaac admitted brightly. "But I've gone hungry before, and it sucks. Like the Priest at the orphanage always said; waste not, want not."

"Gee, thanks," Robin groaned, handing Isaac the ladle in abject defeat.

* * *

><p>Owain had a massive grin on his face that night as he led Severa through the sparsely populated streets a few hours later, their trained eyes committing every sign of bandit activity to memory as they walked with their heads held low.<p>

Owain was grinning because it was hilarious the way that he and Severa were being utterly ignored by the bandits supposedly on patrol. Four times now they had passed men obviously wandering around, looking for a fight or even just someone to step on, and four times now they had been ignored; any town guard worth their salt would have stopped the two hooded strangers and asked some questions, or at least told them to take off their hoods.

While it irked Owain somewhat to be doing reconnaissance work, he was mollified that Robin and Lucina would be there the next day to liberate the town.

And he was excited to take part in that liberation.

Severa stopped him with a slight tug at his cloak, indicating over to a small warehouse with a flick of her eyes as they walked. They passed the building without breaking pace, ignoring the hostile glares from the men not even attempting to hide the fact that they were standing guard out front.

"What do you think?" Severa whispered to him once they'd gone another block.

"Too small to be a weapons cache," Owain said, thinking out loud. "We'll mark it as a point of interest and let Robin decide what to do with it."

Severa nodded, apparently having come to the same conclusion that her companion had.

"We should get back to the meeting point," Severa suggested. "I need a bath."

"Yeah, how well did that go for you this morning?" Owain asked, his grin widening a little.

"S-shut up!" Severa hissed, giving the quietly laughing boy's shoulder a light shove.

* * *

><p>"So what are we looking at?" Gaius asked without looking up.<p>

The ginger-haired thief was leaning over a map of the city he had drawn marking important points and patrol patterns on it, Panne at his shoulder occasionally chiming in with relevant information she had picked up on with her keener-than-human senses.

Owain and Severa drew their hoods back, being ushered into the small home on the outskirts of the city by a haggard looking woman that 'owed Gaius one', meaning they had made her house their hideout. The low roof supported an single-room upper story that they would be using to keep watch, while the lower floor consisted of a kitchen and a table and not much else. The woman gave the two younger Shepherds a quick smile before going back to whatever was cooking on the fire in the corner.

They looked carefully at the map for a moment before saying anything, comparing mental notes.

"From what we can tell your guess was right," Owain started. "It looks like the enemy is centralized around the marketplace where they can steal whatever they want easily."

"There's a small storehouse in the west that has guards at," Severa reported. "We couldn't get close enough to see what was in it, but it's worth checking out once the troops arrive."

"Right here," Owain added, jabbing his finger into the map.

Gaius nodded, making a mark with some charcoal. The thief and part-time-spy nodded in satisfaction before rolling the map up and placing it securely in his pouch.

"I'll make sure that Flavia gets this and be right back," he said, drawing his hood up. "She can give it to Robin when he gets here with the kids. Panne, you wait here and keep these two out of trouble."

Severa visibly bristled at the joking accusation that she would cause any trouble but held her tongue. Owain was too preoccupied with whatever was cooking in the corner to even take notice of half of what Gaius was saying; it was late now, and they hadn't eaten since lunch.

"Be safe," Panne said, briefly placing her forehead against Gaius'.

"I'll be right back," the thief promised nonchalantly before disappearing out into the night.

* * *

><p>Outside of Silva in the forests to the north that hadn't been cut down yet Flavia's troops waited impatiently for the dawn. No cooking fires had been lit that night in case they gave away the army's position, and lanterns were shuttered and carefully watched by the few junior officers that were wandering between the different clan-groups at Aversa's urging. Only a few thick canvas tents had been erected by the Feroxi, the majority of the local warriors having to sleep with only their blankets and animal pelts to keep them warm; this didn't bother them anyway, considering the legendary Feroxi resistance to the elements.<p>

Inside one of the only tents Flavia grimaced, leaning forward against the table in her tent as he knuckles went white on its edge.

"This is pathetic," Aversa continued, her tirade having been going for nearly ten minutes now. "There is not a single officer in this army! How are we supposed to do anything with this? I can't even use the most basic plans if there's no one to make sure the squads follow them. If you weren't such an inept leader-"

"This coming from the strategist that we ground into the dirt with a force a fraction of the size of hers!?" the Khan snapped, slamming her fist onto the table. "I swear, witch, if you weren't Robin's sister I'd-"

"That's enough," Lucina declared, cutting the two women off mid-argument. "You don't have to like each other, just work with each other."

Aversa and Flavia continued to glare silently at each other for a few moments before Flavia clicked her tongue and turned away.

"I can play nice," she growled. "Until Robin gets here and she becomes his problem again."

"I am going to go and re-work all our plans," Aversa sighed. "Again. No one is to disturb me unless we come under attack."

With that the Plegian woman drew her hood up and swept out of the tent, leaving Lucina and Flavia alone in the cramped space. Anna was off organizing a surprise mercenary force that she apparently kept close at hand that only Robin knew about, and her husband wouldn't be joining them until dawn, so Lucina would be alone with the Khan most of the night.

"I should have killed that bitch back in Plegia," Flavia growled, punching the table again.

"Peace, Khan Flavia," Lucina soothed. "She is just trying to help, even if she is going about it the wrong way."

The older woman let out a sigh, sinking into a nearby chair and pulling a bottle out of a crate behind her. With one vicious movement Flavia tore the cork out of the bottle and took a deep swig, letting out a contented sigh. Lucina stepped toward the table, glancing at the reports that Aversa had compiled.

"As much as I hate her attitude Aversa had a point," Lucina ventured carefully. "If you do not mind my asking, what happened to your army?"

Flavia let out another sigh before taking an even longer swig of her drink. She finally glanced up at Lucina, indicating the younger woman take a seat across from her.

"Plegia, Valm and Plegia again," Flavia said.

"I… do not understand," Lucina said. "I know that all the combined armies took losses, but…"

"The Eastern Regna Feroxi losses were catastrophic," Flavia cut in. "Valm was what almost did us in, though."

The Khan leaned back in her chair, her eyes taking a far-away quality as she thought.

"When a Khan is elected Regnant we put our own officers into power," Flavia explained, her voice softening a little. "I was no exception. I was so eager to kick that oaf out of the Colosseum that we moved in the very next day. My officers were good, though; they all knew what they were doing, they all understood and trusted me. Hell, there were a lot of cousins and Aunts and Uncles in my staff. And we were all the first ones on the boats to Valm."

"I think I understand now," Lucina said with a slow nod.

"There was practically nothing left of my army when we combined all the forces to oppose Grima," Flavia went on. "All of the officers were from the West, and that's where they went back to when the war ended. I've done my best with what I have left to put things back together, but I'm not risking the leaders I have left on a piss-poor excuse for an insurgency like this."

"Yeah, that's what you've got us for, right?" a new voice asked from just outside the tent.

Flavia jumped a little as Lucina glanced up at the voice, its owner casually slipping into the tent and drawing his hood back with a trademark easy grin.

"Ah, Sir Gaius," Lucina greeted. "I was expecting you earlier."

"I ran into some friends," the thief shrugged. "Some noisy friends. They're going to help me with the first stage of the plan in the morning."

Lucina nodded again as the thief passed a scroll to her.

"We've marked all the soft spots," he explained. "Where to hit the walls, where to strike to cut off the bandits line of communication, and where their leaders most likely are. There's a lot we didn't have time to do, but from the looks of things this is going to be a cake-walk."

"Good," Lucina nodded.

"I gotta get back before your cousin does something stupid and blows our cover," Gaius sighed, already edging for the door.

"Owain is here?" Lucina asked, confused.

"I caught him about to make a scene in the markets," Gaius explained with a shrug. "And, you know, give my cover away. Red-junior is with him, too. We're having a real party in town, you know. Might even break out the good sweets-stash."

"What are they doing in Regna Ferox?" Lucina asked curiously.

"Probably the same thing you are," Flavia snorted.

"Either way, I have a big day tomorrow so I gotta go," Gaius said before slipping out of the tent and back into the night.

"See you on the field, ladies," he added through the canvas as he slunk off back to the town.

Lucina and Flavia sat in silence for a few moments, the time-travelling princess racking her brain trying to remember if there had been any word of her cousin and childhood friend travelling this far north. She had heard that they were travelling in much the same way she and Robin had two years ago, but why they were in a logging town like Silva she just couldn't fathom. Perhaps when Robin arrived he would be able to shed some light on her eccentric cousin's behaviour. After all, her aunt had always said 'it takes one to know one'…

Flavia let out an amused snort, bringing Lucina's attention back to the present.

"Sorry," the Khan said quickly, draining her bottle in one go before talking again.

"It's just that this is starting to feel more and more like old times, isn't it?"

Lucina nodded silently, surprised that she couldn't disagree with the older woman at all.

* * *

><p>"Come, my Feroxi brethren! Rise up and cast off the shackles of those who oppress you! Rise up, like the warriors of old, and strike down your foes! With the power of my sword hand on your side none can stand before us! For freedom!"<p>

Severa sighed as she let Owain kick the mob in the market into a frenzy. Technically he was half Chon'sinian, but since his father had adopted Regna Ferox as his homeland she guessed it didn't really matter. The mob was almost deafening as Owain roared over them, shouting about their proud history and the wrath and fire of their ancestors or something. Severa had honestly stopped listening now. Not that she didn't love her boyfriend, but sometimes he could still be longwinded.

The two of them had come into the marketplace fully prepared to fight, weapons already drawn and hidden under their cloaks as they had approached the bandits still lurking around and bullying the local populace. Owain hadn't said a word before throwing off his cloak to reveal his familiar yellow tunic and began attacking the biggest of the bandits. Severa had backed him up, of course, because without her he'd wind up getting himself killed, but Owain had used all of his flashiest, most acrobatic moves against the bandits to get the townspeople's attention, shouting silly finishing move names all the while. And apparently, if the crowd cheering along to every word he said was anything to go by, his antics had paid off.

They were fit to blow. All they needed was a target now, something to be unleashed on.

* * *

><p>Robin let out a breath, closing his eyes and stretching out his neck. He was getting too old to be camping.<p>

"Nervous?" he asked, his head still rotating in circles.

Galle glanced up from his spellbook, clapping it shut and putting it back in his pouch.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," the younger man admitted dryly.

"Yeah, you never get used to it," Robin sighed, opening his eyes and looking back over the soldiers hidden in the forest around him. "The only people that do are the ones that lose themselves to their jobs and the psychopaths."

"So what does that make the Feroxi, then?" Galle asked, quirking a brow at the fifty men around the two tacticians.

Robin shrugged. "From a different culture?"

"That's reassuring," Galle sighed, drawing his sword. "What was the signal again?"

Robin grinned at the usually quiet boy's talkativeness; nerves did strange things to people, after all.

"You'll know it when you see it," Robin assured him, leaning back against a nearby tree.

Galle just scoffed as he dug a small whet-stone out of his pouch, arching an eyebrow at the senior tactician before beginning to sharpen his sword.

Robin glanced over the squad, or more accurately 'mob' considering there wasn't any unit cohesion what-so-ever in a Feroxi army, that Flavia had assigned to him; fifty-odd warriors all from Eastern Regna Ferox, their brightly coloured armour covered in pelts and furs and their hair festooned with charms and beads. There were a large number of women in the squad; another side-effect of the wars against Valm and Plegia being that a lot more women had been pressed into military service in recent years. Robin couldn't help but grin at the idea that every woman here could probably kick his ass. And Galle's. Unarmed.

Robin blinked a few times, starting to think he was becoming some sort of masochist. With a shake of his head he reminded himself what he was supposed to be doing at present.

"So that's what you're going to do before battle?" he asked the moody Plegian boy.

"It's important, seeing as you banned me from using magic," Galle pointed out.

"So is triple and quadruple-checking your plans," Robin sighed. "You're not just responsible for your own life today; you're responsible for all of theirs, too. Mine, too, so don't screw this up or you'll have Lucina to answer to."

Galle faltered as he ran the whet-stone down his blade, nearly cutting himself in the process. He quickly stood up straight and cleared his throat, placing the stone back in his pocket and focusing his full attention on Robin.

"Could I see those maps again please, master?" he asked seriously.

"Sure thing, kid," Robin laughed, passing the copy of Gaius' map to him. "Just don't lose them."

* * *

><p>Rance fidgeted restlessly, flexing his knuckles on the hafts of his axes and looking longingly over in the direction of the city wall again, the top of which was just barely visible through the trees. All around him were mercenaries brought in by the Anna merchant network, thirty men and women from mostly Ylisse and Valm wearing mismatched steel armour and wielding a variety of different weapons.<p>

"What happened to a local squad?" he muttered sullenly.

Rance was disappointed that he wouldn't get to show off his new skills to his brethren like the other students did, but Anna's mercenaries only worked well as a unit, rather than separated through the rest of the army.

"This was your idea," Anna pointed out, flipping a coin lazily over her fingers as she leaned back against a tree.

"How can you be so calm right now?" Rance asked exasperatedly.

"Practice," Anna replied with a wink. "I'll teach you some time, but-"

"I know, I know," Rance interrupted with a sigh. "It'll cost me, right?"

Anna snickered, her coin only pausing its motion for a second.

"You might be smarter than the others give you credit for, kid," Anna said with a grin. "Robin still hasn't learned that fact yet."

"Shut up and give me the stupid map," Rance sighed, deciding to busy himself going over their plan again.

Talking to the merchant woman, war-hero or not, was giving him a headache.

* * *

><p>Gaius grinned a little as he watched the frenzied mobs of villagers, all of which were wielding some form of appropriated or improvised weapon, chase a small group of bandits past his hiding place. He had to give Sword-hand props; the kid knew how to whip up a mob.<p>

He and Panne were close now to the warehouse district where the loggers kept the lumber they harvested. A number of other things were kept there too, like private storehouses and the tiny guard barracks, but it was mostly lumber; a fact that made Gaius insatiably curious about what the bandits could possibly be guarding in the storehouse that the kids had spotted.

"Should we not wait for Robin's attack?" Panne asked quietly from the shadows behind him.

"We are," Gaius assured her, peeking out around the corner again. "I just want to check out that storehouse we missed before it gets loud."

"It is already loud," Panne complained softly.

"We'll go someplace quiet after this, I promise," Gaius told his mate with a rougish grin. "I heard that some of Say'ri's retainers are getting a little too fond of their wealth."

With that the nimble thief darted out of their hiding place, crouched low as he crossed the street towards the next line of buildings.

"Chon'sin is quiet," Panne commented idly as she followed him.

The duo paused momentarily as a jet of green smoke flew into the air, the product of one of Miriel's weird inventions that also served as a great signal to attack. Gaius and Panne both stopped to watch the smoke before looking at each other for a brief moment.

"We still have time," he declared with a shrug, setting off again at a quickened pace.

"The last time you said that Morgan told me we scarred Yarne for life," Panne warned, easily keeping pace with the thief.

Gaius let out a snort, followed by the sound of him desperately trying not to burst into laughter as he ducked behind a crate. Panne rolled her eyes as she followed him, marvelling at the fact that such a childish man could be such a skilled thief. Gaius shuffled in a squat to the edge of the stack of crates, peeking around it at the warehouse that Owain had marked the previous evening.

"Bingo," he whispered. "Sweet pay-dirt."

Panne took a deep breath, testing the scents on the wind as she strained her ears. As always the first things to reach her were the sugary scent of her mate and the sound of his steady heartbeat; the blood rushing through his veins was a dull roar that the Taguel momentarily allowed herself to enjoy before forcing herself to focus on the information she was receiving from the storehouse. Judging from the smells and sounds there were numerous humans inside, but something else, too. Something… old. Something that stirred a primal part of Panne's consciousness to awaken.

"Er… sweet-heart? You're growling," Gaius said, his hand gripping her shoulder tightly.

Panne clamped her jaw closed, taking a few deep breaths. Gaius retained his hold on her, in case she went berserk and gave their position away, but the Taguel woman had a handle on things now.

"There is something in that storehouse," she said, her breathing slightly shaky now that the adrenaline was fading.

Gaius nodded, releasing her with a reassuring pat before taking another look around the crates. Panne pressed her back to the wooden boxes behind her, willing her heart to slow; just what was in the building she didn't know, but it instinctively set her on edge.

"There's two guards. They didn't hear you, but they still seem antsy," he told her in a hushed whisper. "It's weird; must be somethin' important to keep 'em here, rather than helping their buddies."

"I need to know what's inside that building," she whispered to the human next to her.

"Are there more people inside?" he asked her, never looking away from the guards.

Panne nodded. "At least six. I… can't be sure."

"Ah whatever, we're just taking a quick look."

Gaius nodded, pulling two small throwing knives out of the depths of his cloak. With a burst of speed the small man threw himself out of cover into a roll, the two little knives flashing out almost faster than Panne's eyes could follow. With strangled gasps the two bandits brought their hands to their throats, grasping at the knives embedded in them. Before either man could recover Gaius crossed the space and finished them with quick, merciful strokes from his dagger. He looked around a few times before giving the signal for Panne to follow him, and slipped around the other side of the storehouse.

"Are we not going to hide the bodies?" Panne asked curiously as she caught up.

"No point," he answered distractedly.

There were large, open windows at the top of the high wall above them to let light and air into the storehouse. Of course they wouldn't have glass in them in Regna Ferox, which made Gaius' life infinitely easier. Putting his dagger back in its sheathe he pulled out the small, strong rope with the grappling hook on the end that he kept on his person at all times. With expert movements he tossed the small hook up to the window, never making a sound, before testing the rope and pulling himself up.

Panne stood watching her mate, her sense of unease almost overwhelming this close to the window. Whatever was creating that scent was driving her mad; every part of her screamed 'run' so loud she almost obeyed. Her fur stood on end, her pule was quickened, her eyes were wide and her muscles were tense and ready to defend herself and her mate. If not for the fact that she had to be her mate's lookout she probably would have lost herself and fled.

Gaius ascended the wall silently, hand over hand until he reached the window where he'd latched his hook. With quick motions he loosened the hook so he could pull it down again, before propping himself against the wall and bottom sill of the window to get a good look inside.

What he saw made him suck in a breath, his eyes wide and his body going rigid.

"Okay…" he mumbled to himself. "That's… probably not a good thing…"

He glanced down at Panne as the colour drained from his face.

"I'll stall them here; go and find Robin," Gaius whispered desperately. "Right now!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I got bored, so I decided to google my story and see what happened. Apart from that one thing on the TV Tropes page the response was pretty good. Massive shout-out to the admin of the 'Avatar Robin: Grandmaster' Facebook page for sharing my story last August. Sorry it took me so long to find it, bro, but I do appreciate these things. You're the greatest. See you all next chapter, and hopefully there won't be as long a wait!<strong>


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

**Okay, okay, I get it; I'll lay off with the cliffhanger endings… Sheesh… **

**Sorry about the long update lag; any of my long-term readers will know that life has a tendency to kick me in the nads and drive off in my car while I lay groaning on the side of the road. It also didn't help that there was some little shit distracting me by trying to constantly pick a fight over **_**Invisible Ties**_** for the last month…**

**This actually turned into a ridiculously long chapter, so I had to split it. It's still on the upper scale of my average chapter length. Which sucks because I wanted to INTRODUCE THE LAST FREAKING CHARACTER ALREADY. Grrr… At least we finally get to meet the antagonists of the first story arc. **

**Okay, announcement time: I'm going back to school soon, and I actually intend to pass this time, so updates may be few and far between. I'll still be working hard on this, just… harder on school. Sorry in advance. I'm also… well, not pleased, but I am announcing that I'm done with Invisible Ties. Long story short, at the end of the day IT was practice, and this story is for fun. I can't devote more time to IT, work on this story AND focus on my novel. So I made the executive decision to consider the DX-version of Invisible Ties finished. **

**On a much sadder note, rest in peace Monty Oum, head animator at Rooster Teeth. Not only did you make Red vs Blue awesome again, but you even planted the seed of thought that not all anime has to come from Japan with the amazing series RWBY. You were one of a kind, bro. You will be missed. *sniff* and he never finished Dead Fantasy… *sniffle***

…

**Holy crap that was a depressing AN. Good news, need some good news… I recently stopped losing every game of Vanguard that I play? Yeah, there's some good news! FEAR MY BATTLE SISTERS LEGION! **

**Read, review and Nagaspeed!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 ~ 2 Years Ago<strong>

Lucina glanced around the crowded residential street in Silva's outer strata with a sense of pride and satisfaction as the Feroxi warriors rushed to the aid of the locals, all at Mariko's orders. The young woman had taken Robin's teachings to heart, and was organizing the aid and evacuation of the locals before even beginning to think about engaging the enemy. Even better yet she had sent runners to the other three groups, warning them that she would be delayed and giving them detailed suggestions she had come up with on the fly on how to compensate for her force's absence.

It had been a snap decision on Robin's part when he'd arrived, to change the groupings; Isaac and Mariko had about the same level of magical competency, but Mariko was slightly more confident than the big Ylissean. Apparently Robin had subtly tested them during their march and found that Isaac needed the slight boost with his mage training more than Mariko did, prompting him to make the change.

Lucina smiled slightly as the girl climbed up on a crate to get a better view of what was going on, her battle-dress strikingly similar to Lady Say'ri's yet of a pale shade of pink rather than the Chon'sinian Queen's favoured white.

"Are there any more wounded?" Mariko shouted over the clamour, her normally quiet voice cutting through the noise like a knife.

"Nay, tactician," one of the closer Feroxi warriors answered. "We've gotten' em all out."

"One squad stays here to guard the non-combatants!" Mariko shouted, her voice carrying authority far belying her years. "That's ten warriors! Everyone else, grab a weapon and keep up!"

A lusty roar went up from the locals as weapons were held aloft; Mariko had also pleasantly surprised Lucina by adapting to the changing mood of the local populace. Given the Feroxi love of fighting and the eager mood to run the bandits out of town the civilians would have simply gotten underfoot and disrupted their plans as they moved. Mariko had made the right decision to fold them into the battle-group. It was something that Robin would have done, which had further served to convince Lucina that her decision to hand command over to the girl had been the right one.

Robin had been explicit about his orders; the students were there as observers only. However Lucina had been younger than Mariko by at least five years when she had led her first soldiers on the field with Cullen back in the future she had come from, and trusted the girl to be able to cope. She would remain by the Chon'sinian's side, but would not interfere unless necessary.

"Lady Lucina?" Mariko asked somewhat hesitantly, snapping the older woman out of her reverie. "We are ready to move."

Lucina nodded, giving the assembled host a quick glance to ensure nothing was out of place. All of the warriors looked to be in high spirits and were prepared to move on the town's central markets, where according to Gaius' intel was where the bandits were located, and the civilians in the area had been evacuated out to the forest.

"Very well, Tactician Mariko," Lucina said with an encouraging nod. "Lead the way."

The girl nodded, holding her sword high as the signal to march. The Feroxi around her let out another loud cheer and started moving in the general direction of the markets, although 'stampeding' might have been a more accurate way to describe their movements.

Mariko and Lucina followed along, caught up in the flow with the press of bodies. Lucina turned to check a side street, taking her eyes off the path ahead of her for barely a moment, before she walked straight into the Feroxi warrior in front of her, a large woman that oddly reminded her of Vaike.

"Why have we stopped?" Lucina asked quickly.

"Lady Panne!" Mariko called out, waving above the heads of the Feroxi around her.

Lucina perked up, glancing around the shoulder of the warrior before her and catching sight of a brown form the size of a horse barrelling down the narrow street towards them. Lucina felt her stomach tighten a little as she realised that the Taguel was visibly flustered and she couldn't see Gaius anywhere, and years of experience took over.

"Make way!" she roared, parting the crowd of warriors with naught but those two words.

Lucina strode forward through the path that opened almost instantly, her tone of voice demanding obedience. Mariko stumbled a little as she followed the fencing instructor, awed at this sudden change of character.

"Where is Robin?" Panne asked as she skidded to a stop, the Taguel not even bother to shift forms again.

"By now he should be in the marketplace," Lucina answered without hesitation.

"I must find him," the giant rabbit insisted.

Lucina nodded, making a snap decision.

"Mariko, go with Panne," she ordered, turning on her heel to face the girl. "Find Robin. Do whatever Panne tells you to in the process."

The girl's eyes widened slightly before she nodded, accepting Lucina's judgement and stepping forward to Panne; she was too young and inexperienced to lead the Feroxi on her own if Lucina went with Panne, especially when she had been sent as Lucina's observer in the first place.

"We will need to take the back roads," Mariko said, striding right up to the Taguel. "It will be faster, and I have most of the map memorized."

"Good," Panne said, crouching low to the ground. "You will slow me down. Get on."

Mariko froze, eyes widening slightly again before she nodded and swung a leg over Panne's shoulders. To the girl's credit she only hesitated for a moment.

"For what it's worth, Mariko," Lucina called out before Panne could bolt. "You were doing a splendid job today."

"Thank you, sensei," Mariko said, a small smile quirking the corners of her mouth.

"Protect her, Panne," Lucina said, stepping back.

The Taguel nodded, glancing up at the human clutching her fur out of the corner of her eye.

"Hold tight, young one," she instructed. "And shout your directions as we come upon them. Time is of the essence."

* * *

><p>"So we're just going to… stand here?" Isaac asked hesitantly.<p>

"Yes," Aversa sighed.

"Even though there's a battle going on?" he persisted.

"What part of 'rear guard' did you not understand?" Aversa snapped. "Do something smart and use this time to practice your magic. I will call you if we have to move into the town, so stop pestering me and practice!"

Isaac stiffened at his teacher's reprimand, the impatient Aversa letting out a sigh as the Ylissean boy turned away with a frown on his face.

"Do you know why we are the rear guard?" Aversa asked in a sigh.

Isaac turned slightly back to the older woman, raising his brow in a silent question, wary of provoking the clearly displeased Aversa any further.

"It is because the mages and archers are a liability in closed confines such as a city," she explained. "Especially one such as Silva, where roads have been thrown together around and between buildings as an afterthought. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mistress," Isaac said woodenly, a note of disappointment creeping into his voice.

Aversa and Isaac were positioned at the head of Flavia's archers, left behind as the 'rearguard'. As he stopped to think about it, Aversa's point made sense to Isaac. It would be pointless for the archers to deploy in the city, with its narrow and winding streets, unless it was necessary. Robin had changed his mind about the pairings right at the last minute, and instead of charging headlong into danger with his friends he was here. Standing. Bored and anxious next to his magic instructor.

"So go and use this time for what my dearest brother intended you do with it, and practice your spellcraft," Aversa said, turning away from Isaac in obvious dismissal.

"Yes, mistress," Isaac sighed, moving a small way away from the archers in case he lit something or someone on fire with his sup-par spellmanship again, conceding to the fact that he was essentially being left out of this battle.

"I hope the others are having more fun," he muttered, spreading his feet shoulder-width apart and opening his spellbook to the 'elfire' pages.

* * *

><p>"This is not fun!" Galle shouted, dodging beneath the axe of one of the bandits and back-peddling away from the bigger man. "This is so not fun! This is-"<p>

Robin was there in a flash, running the burly and unkempt man through before kicking the lifeless bandit off of his rapier.

"Will you focus already!?" Robin sighed. "It's just a couple of bandits, this is noth-"

The tactician cut himself off mid-sentence, turning to throw a few bolts of lightning magic at some charging bandits as they rounded the corner.

"And I thought you said no magic!" Galle complained loudly.

"Do as I say, not as I do," Robin grinned.

The older tactician turned, trusting Galle to keep pace with him and the rest of the Feroxi. They were almost on the marketplace now, leading the unit at a mad pace towards the sounds of fighting. Anna's group, being comprised of the more heavily armoured mercenaries that she made a habit of hiring, had taken the most direct route to the marketplace acting as the shock-troops. The Feroxi were supposed to sweep in from both flanks and take the Bandit force unaware, but according to their runner Lucina and Mariko had been bogged down in the residential quarters, so Robin and Galle would hit them first and hope that the others caught up before the bandits could slip out the opposite flank.

The sound of battle grew as Robin's force neared the market, the smoke wafting on the air also rising above the buildings, giving the older tactician flash-backs to the last time he'd been in a burning city, back in Valm. It had been the capital, after the battle that had seen Walhart deposed and the resistance leader Priam dead; Robin had wandered around for hours looking for Lucina in the aftermath, afraid that she had disappeared again…

The bitter memories fell to the back of Robin's mind as his squad burst into the chaos of the marketplace, a roar escaping his lips. Curiously, the usually quiet and sardonic Galle was emulating him, the boy screaming at the top of his lungs as they charged at the head of the rabid Feroxi warriors.

The bandits at the side flank glanced up, having apparently managed to keep Anna's mercenaries mostly out of the marketplace and stand their ground. A row of large kite-shields and spears was all that Robin could see of the mercenaries, but he could hear the Captain shouting orders to advance over them in a Valmese accent, with Rance and Anna no doubt not far away. The few bandits smart enough to be standing watch over the flank let out dismayed cries before falling beneath Robin's charge, the tactician himself cutting deep into the enemy formation. He lashed out, precise blows incapacitating the bandits by striking at tendons and exposed flesh as he flashed through their ranks like a black and silver blur.

Robin was careful about how he fought, though; he had been explicit in his orders that the bandits be taken alive if possible. He and Chrom had talked at length during his long hospital stay after the final battle with Grima, and both had been appalled at the sheer loss of life after the half-decade of constant fighting. There were so few people left in their generation that Robin balked at the thought of taking lives wantonly. Wounds could be healed, bones mended, tendons magically reconnected, but lives couldn't be brought back. There was a chance, however small, that these men could still reform.

Of course, Robin thought with a grim smile as he ducked beneath an axe aimed at his neck, that didn't mean that the bandits felt the same way.

Galle was at his side instantly, their earlier roles reversed as he lashed out out with a harsh and brutal series of kicks to the offending bandit's knee, ribs and then jaw before the younger tactician spun away, leaving Robin to headbutt the reeling bandit into unconsciousness.

"That was good," Robin said admirably. "Although I did want you to practice more with your sword."

Galle raised one brow and opened his mouth to say something, his voice catching in his throat as Robin shoved him in the shoulder and forced him out of the path of a flying hand axe. The younger man paled a little as his teacher pirouetted and threw another thunderbolt back in the direction that the axe had come from.

Galle shook his head, gripping his sword one handed and lashing out at another passing bandit with a closed fist. His blow smashed into the larger man's unprotected back, just at the base of his neck, dropping him in a spasming heap. He spun then, landing another kick into the ribs of a second bandit, forcing him back onto Robin's blade. The older tactician marvelled at the younger man's skill; not a movement was wasted, and every blow was sharp and brutal. He most definitely did not recall teaching Galle that style.

"Do you even need a sword?" Robin laughed. "Who taught you to fight like that?"

Galle shrugged, flexing his bruising hand a little. "I just picked it up."

"Well," Robin said with a proud smile as he cast another wind spell over his shoulder. "You'll have to show me some moves once we get back to the school. You fight like a bastard."

"Uh… thanks…" Galle muttered, clearly unsure how to take his teacher's comments.

Before Robin could continue with his strangely worded praise another shout of alarm came up from the opposite side of the bandits, making both tacticians glance up over the heads of the warriors.

"It's about time they showed… wait," Robin said, eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the form that emerged from the narrow streets into the markets.

Panne bounded through the bandits, tearing her way through the men barring her way without even breaking stride before she skidded to a halt before Robin. A visibly shaken Mariko slid from the Taguel's back, wide-eyed and wobbling a little before composing herself.

"What happened?" Robin asked without preamble.

"Gaius sent me to get you," Panne said quickly, her flanged voice strained. "He told me to tell you 'he is out of sweets'."

Robin's eyes momentarily widened at the code-phrase before he sighed and nodded, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a small leather cord. Mariko and Galle both watched silently, eyes wide and barely daring to breathe as for the first time since meeting him years ago Robin drew the hair out of his face and tied it back, clearly displaying the burn scar above his left eye. That, coupled with the scar across the bridge of his nose, made the older man seem even more imposing.

"Galle, go get Flavia. Tell her that play-time is over. We crush this rebellion now."

"R-right," the young Plegian stammered, practically tripping over himself to follow Robin's orders; he'd never seen the older man this serious, and it admittedly unsettled him.

"Mariko, I want you to try and hold things here," Robin went on, striding towards Panne. "Galle will be right back with Flavia, but I'm trusting you to maintain order until they arrive."

"Yes, sensei," Mariko said with a slight bow.

Robin nodded before climbing up onto Panne's back. His face softened somewhat as he lightly brushed his hands over her rabbit-form's shoulder fur, grinning a little as she shuddered.

"Morgan told me Yarne was ticklish, too," Robin chuckled.

"I can still make you walk," Panne deadpanned before darting off at a sprint.

Mariko watched them disappear into the nearest alleyway before spinning on her heel to take stock of the current situation, a rising feeling of pride growing in her breast at being entrusted with such an important task on her own, even if it was only for a short period of time.

She glanced up as she heard Rance's distinct, manic laughter, the mercenaries he was at the head of finally breaking the bandit line and rushing the marketplace. The shield wall parted, allowing the other student tactician and Lady Anna to rush forward alongside a squad of mercenaries being led by a hardened-looking man of middle-age wielding a two-handed axe.

"Forward, warriors of Regna Ferox!" Mariko bellowed, brandishing her sword. "Let us finish this before the Khan arrives!"

Mariko was in no way a competitive person, but with a slight grin she told herself that she would be damned if she let Rance steal her spotlight.

* * *

><p>Galle grimaced as he shoved his way through the rushing crowds of Feroxi soldiers and civilians, looking for a standard or an honour-guard or something that might give him some indication of where Khan Flavia was.<p>

That was one of the things that bothered him the most about the Regna Ferox military; the utter lack of cohesion. Plegia and Ylisse's armies both had a similar command structure, and although the Valmese officer-hierarchy was based on bloodlines it was similar enough that he would have been able to guess where the command staff was stationed. Feroxi war-bands were, in Galle's opinion, a mess. The Khan would move about wherever they wanted, quite often at the frontlines where they couldn't properly command, leaving their junior officers to handle the actual running of the army. Robin's lessons had prepared him for the same style of leadership, but Galle never intended to lead from the front. It was inefficient and ludicrous for a tactician to fight on the frontlines. Galle would advise military leaders, the way a tactician should, and-

With a grunt the young tactician trainee fell to the ground, the solid wall of a Feroxi warrior accidentally shoulder-barging him from her path knocking him flat.

"Sorry kid," the older woman said lightly, stopping and dragging him to his feet by the scruff.

She blinked a few times before her face hardened and she rested her giant gold-hued sword on her shoulder.

"Aren't you one of Robin's kids?" Khan Flavia asked the glowering Galle.

"Yes, and I was sent to look for you," he snapped. "Something's happened and my master suggested that you move into the marketplace with a modicum of haste."

Flavia quirked one brow, indicating with one hand the warriors surging around them towards the direction of the markets.

"We're working on it," she pointed out. "Robin say why I had to hurry?"

Galle shook his head irritably. "No, but Mariko is holding the market by herself and-"

"And by now Anna and Lucina's groups should have converged as well," Flavia cut him off. "I already called off the sweep of the outer wards to move into the city proper, so you can relax, kid. I've never seen Robin get flustered over anything like this. C'mon, stick close and we'll rout the bastards before supper time."

Galle seethed at being ordered around so wantonly as the Khan brushed by him, especially being ordered around by the barbarian-queen herself. The Plegian boy took a deep breath as he followed her, reminding himself that all the nations were currently at peace, and his racism was unjustified. Khan Flavia was simply doing her job.

Being Plegian didn't mean that Galle could hate everyone indiscriminately like some of the older men from his village did. In the end it had been Ylisse and Regna Ferox that had saved Plegia from itself. Even if the Ylisseans were mostly overly pretentious and the Feroxi were mostly brutish thugs, who was he to judge? There were always outliers in every culture.

They came out into the marketplace while Galle was still debating international diplomacy with himself, shocking him quite rudely out of his reverie. With sharp eyes the trainee tactician glanced around, taking in everything in a moment.

The damage didn't look too bad, in his opinion. Of course there was some collateral damage to the storefronts, and no doubt the stalls had been ground to kindling beneath the feet of the bandits and warriors, but nothing that couldn't be replaced. What was more worrying to Galle was the sight of Rance standing on a box barking orders.

"You lot, circle around east! Go door to door, make sure everyone's safe!" the local tactician trainee was shouting. "You lot, push on to the Mill-Ward near the river! That's where the bandits are supposed to be- Galle! Galle, over here! Hey! Over! Here!"

Just as the Plegian boy was starting to feel a spark of respect for his classmate the feeling was dashed when Rance started jumping up and down and waving his arms to get his attention.

"I see you, you idiot!" Galle sighed, pushing through the crowd. "Weren't you giving orders?"

Rance's reply was lost in Khan Flavia's booming voice as she leapt up onto the box he had just stepped down from.

"Right! Who's coming to the Mill-Ward with me!?" she roared, a feral grin on her face.

The reply was deafening in the closed-space that was the market, the roar of the crowd of warriors and armed civilians bouncing back off the nearby buildings and making Galle wince. It didn't help that Rance was screaming at the top of his lungs next to him, either.

As the majority of the Feroxi warriors coalesced into one great mob and followed Flavia Galle found himself standing with Rance, surrounded by Anna's mercenaries and a few of the more even-tempered locals.

"Those were some pretty good orders you were throwing about before I got here," Galle said. "I didn't expect that from you."

"They were Mariko's," Rance shrugged honestly. "I was just doing the shouting because her voice was hoarse from yelling earlier."

"That makes much more sense," Galle said with a comprehending nod.

"Wow, thanks for your confidence in me," Rance groaned, rolling his eyes before giving the Plegian boy a playful punch in the arm.

Just as Galle was deciding whether to shove his sword down Rance's throat or to enquire as to the whereabouts of their only female classmate she reappeared in the northern side of the market with Anna with a sour look on her usually expressionless face, making his decision for him.

"Don't worry, dear," Anna was saying in her usual carefree tone. "I'll charge Robin for the herbs, so you just worry about the fighting."

"Everything okay?" Rance asked as he and a frowning Galle approached the two women.

"I just had to give Mariko a concoction to make her throat feel a little better," Anna said innocently. "It most definitely had been tested in the past and found to have a low mortality rate, so I don't see what she was so grumpy about."

"Are you trying to convince us, or yourself?" Galle deadpanned, raising a brow.

"Sheesh, if that's the face she's making I can't imagine how bad it was," Rance said sympathetically.

"Do we not have work to do?" Mariko croaked, brushing by the boys to begin organizing the sweeping search pattern to ensure no bandits were still hiding in the city. "Come. We should have this organized before Lucina-Sensei arrives."

"Just how bad was that stuff?" Rance whispered to Galle.

The other boy responded by rolling his eyes and following after Mariko, intending to act as her voice so that she didn't hurt herself further. Rance sighed and turned to the manically grinning Anna, preparing to continue to follow her lead with the mercenaries.

"I am not drinking anything you give me," he warned her.

"Aw, you're no fun," Anna pouted.

* * *

><p>Robin half-leapt, half-fell off of Panne's back as she finally drew to a stop, shaking his head and willing his breakfast to remain where it was.<p>

"And I thought that… flying was bad," he groaned.

Panne's mouth opened but she swallowed her words, her response lost as a pair of light feet dropped to the rough dirt path right next to them.

"It's about time you two showed up," Gaius said, swaying dangerously. "I didn't know how much longer I could distract 'em for… had to set the warehouse on fire and everything…They still got most of 'em out, though…"

"Gaius!" Robin called out as Panne darted forward to catch her mate.

"You owe me… so many honey-cakes for this…" the thief sighed as Panne lowered him to the ground. "I'm fine. Just tired…"

The thief's cloak was in tatters and singed in places, but aside from a few scratches on his arms and face Robin couldn't see any serious wounds. Panne sighed, standing again after propping Gaius against the side of the nearest building and looking at Robin expectantly.

"You going to be alright?" he asked.

Gaius just waved them off, closing his eyes and attempting to catch his breath. Robin gave the other man one last quick look to make sure he was okay before he grinned and shook his head, jogging over to the warehouse across the road from their hiding place with Panne close behind. Around the road a few blood-splatters were accompanied by even fewer bodies; however the fact that Gaius had held the area alone for so long was no mean feat. Robin definitely intended to repay the man with his weight in sugary treats.

Frantic sounds of activity came from within the building, and smoke rose from the opposite end. Robin cursed himself for forgetting to ask Gaius what, exactly, he would find inside the building, but if it had been that dangerous the thief would have reported to him with Panne as well, rather than try to delay the bandits. As he passed Robin could see evidence of where Gaius had barred the doors and even moved some lighter crates in front of them, explaining why he was so tired. Smoke was billowing out of the gaps in the slatted sides of the buildings that acted as high windows, the sounds of panic and hustling from within beginning to increase in pitch.

Carefully tugging the large doors open a fraction to look inside with one hand as he drew his rapier again with his other, Robin leaned forward to peek inside.

He instantly pulled his face back, though, as a thick cloud of smoke wafted from the opening.

"What in the hell did Gaius do!?" he coughed, blinking the tears from the smoke out of his eyes.

"He distracted them," Panne answered without a hint of emotion in her voice.

"Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious," Robin deadpanned, crouching down to where the smoke was thinner before leaning forward again.

What he saw within wasn't too out of the ordinary given the circumstances; there was a fire crackling through the bales of hay along the back wall of the space, where about ten or twelve workers were hastily trying to put out the blaze; Robin couldn't get an accurate count on the people through the smoke. A single wooden crate, easily the size of Anna's old cart, sat on an even larger cart, clearly about to have been moved before the fire had 'broken out'.

"What's in the box?" Robin asked in a hushed whisper.

"I do not know," Panne said, a strange tightness to her voice. "But whatever it is, it makes me nervous."

Robin glanced up at the Taguel leaning over him to look into the warehouse for a moment before nodding.

"We'll worry about it after we stop these guys," he declared, standing and pulling the door all the way open, smoke billowing past them in a great cloud. "I'll put out the fire, be ready to back me up if they become hostile."

Panne nodded, following at Robin's shoulder as he held up his hands and began to cast a spell he hadn't used in a really long time. He almost faltered, considering reaching for his spellbook to make sure he wasn't screwing anything up, but decided against it and shouted the last of the incantation.

"Fimbulvetr!" he roared.

The ambient temperature in the warehouse plummeted as Robin and Panne's breath misted in front of their faces. Large slabs of ice rose up around the flames, trapping them in a vacuum and extinguishing them in a manner of seconds, right in the faces of the stunned men trying to extinguish them. They whirled around with stunned looks, dropping buckets full of water that had frozen solid as they shivered in the unnatural cold.

"Gentlemen," Robin greeted with a confident grin as ice crystals still danced and swirled around him. "How's it going?"

* * *

><p>Owain had to grin as he led a small horde of angry Feroxi locals through the smaller secondary markets just outside of Silva's slums, Severa at his side like always.<p>

The bandits that had terrorized the villagers for nearly a week were in full retreat now, fleeing before the might of his sword-hand. They had passed through the marketplace like a battering ram, where he had given an energetic wave to his old ally Anna and what was obviously one of Robin's students with her, a local boy judging from his lighter clothes, before crashing into the town after their cowardly foes.

They had been given the easiest job, considering Owain's ability to rile up a crowd; they were simply chasing the bandits and getting them away from the civilians; the slums were empty now, thanks to his cousin Lucina's efforts, and Aversa's group would be going around the outside of the village to cut off their retreat while Flavia and Anna's soldiers penned the bandits in with Owain's mob. It was a flawless plan, and one that Owain was thrilled to be a part of; it had been far too long, in his mind, since he'd felt this excitement.

They rounded the corner of one of the shacks that made up the majority of the buildings in the slums, the thin and winding roads having slowed the bandits' progress greatly as they had become lost in the warren-like turns. Owain roared with a mixture of excitement and battle-rage as he spotted the enemy ahead of them, holding his sword high. He slowed, though, allowing the locals to charge ahead of him and Severa and engage the retreating bandits.

"What's wrong now?" Severa huffed, crossing her arms.

Owain shook his head.

"I dunno," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I just got a feeling like… we missed something, that's all."

Severa scoffed. "If we miss something then Lucina, Flavia and Aversa will catch it. Stop wasting time worrying."

"You're… doing a great job," she added quietly, looking away from him.

Owain couldn't help but play dumb at his partner's cute side.

"What was that last part?" he asked, sidling up to Severa.

"Nothing! I said you should stop daydreaming and catch up with the warriors! Gawds, use your sword hand to clean your ears out sometime!" she shouted, her face going crimson as she stomped off in the direction their horde had taken off in.

Owain shook his head, doing his best not to laugh and failing miserably as he jogged to catch up with the others. Severa still wasn't true to his emotions, but then again he couldn't really talk.

"Be still, sword hand! Before this day is out we will carve our names onto the bedrock of this world and all who see it shall tremble in fear!"

* * *

><p>Aversa sighed and crossed her arms, sinking to a hip as she studied the slums spread out before them from the safety of the forest. Not too long ago a runner had come from Lucina and told her to move to intercept anyone that came out of the city's slums facing the forest. She had decided to leave half of her archers behind, in the unlikely event that the units in the city actually needed support, so now she and Isaac were standing among the thirteen Feroxi archers and hunters that had opted to follow.<p>

"What do you think?" she asked over her shoulder, her tone dripping with the insurmountable boredom she was feeling.

Isaac started, surprised that he was being called on for tactical advice from the woman that had once led Plegia's entire army singlehandedly. An army that had still lost in the end, but she had still put up a good fight…

"A-about what, mistress?" he asked quickly, clapping his spellbook closed.

Aversa rolled her eyes and planted her hands on her hips impatiently, going back to watching the smoke rising from the slums in various places as the Feroxi chased the bandits around willy-nilly.

"Give me your thoughts on the situation," she said exasperatedly. "I may not be your tactics instructor, but I'm still a tactician. I want to see what my dearest brother has taught you."

Isaac nodded silently, a spike of anxiety eating into him at being put on the spot like this. He hated it when the magic instructed did this to the students; she loved catching her students on the wrong foot, especially in the advanced class. She said it was to help them expect the unexpected, but Isaac and Rance were in agreement that she was just a sadist.

"We're clearly still acting as the rearguard," the young man started, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "Given the local predisposition for chaotic behaviour placing us out here is a necessary tactic to ensure no stragglers escape."

"And if this army were all Plegian?" Aversa asked, crossing her arms again.

Isaac swallowed, thinking quickly.

"There are more mages in a Plegian army," Isaac said, thinking as quickly as he could. "Yet still not as many as a Ylissean group would field. In this situation I would have the mages and archers split up and join the groups assaulting the bandits in the town, and have a single regiment of footmen to watch the outskirts."

Aversa gave the boy a malicious grin as she turned to him, and Isaac realised he'd clearly gotten something wrong. In the distance some of the Feroxi archers let out excited whoops and cheers as the first of the bandits attempted to make their escape in the woods, a sharp contrast to Isaac's gloom.

"Wrong," she announced. "Look at the space between our position in the forest and the city; you should have placed the archer regiments in the forest with a squad of footmen as backup."

Isaac sighed, visibly deflating.

"However the rest of your planning concerning the mages was adequate," Aversa added, watching as another small group of bandits attempted to flee the city, only to be brought down in a hail of arrow-fire.

Isaac perked up a little, the ghost of a smile reaching his lips before Aversa turned to him with a frown.

"Why are you not down there practicing your spells?" she snapped.

"Y-yes mistress! Sorry mistress!" Isaac cried, clasping his spellbook and making for the tree line where the archers were.

* * *

><p>Lucina watched carefully over the Feroxi forces that were dragging the captured and wounded bandits to the central marketplace on Flavia's orders. It wasn't that she didn't trust the Khan to care for the prisoners, but in her future the remaining Feroxi warriors had been savage and merciless, and those present had just been invaded. In her experience 'better safe than sorry' was more than just a suggestion.<p>

"It appears that they were in the process of leaving when we hit the town," one of the junior officers reported to Flavia. "Most of them maintain they were hired as 'bodyguards'."

The Khan snorted next to Lucina, tapping the longsword Ragnell against her shoulder guard a few times in thought.

"Did they say who they were hired by?" Flavia asked, watching as more bandits were corralled into the growing horde in the middle of the square.

The officer shook her head. "No, Khan Flavia. Most of 'em were probably hired by their direct superiors."

"Find a leader," Flavia ordered. "I want to know who and why they attacked a town in my territory."

The officer practically shouted an affirmative before she darted off, hollering orders at the top of her lungs. Lucina noticed Flavia sag a little as they were left alone, the Khan looking much older than when they had fought against Grima together.

"I'm getting too old for this crap," she sighed, turning to face Lucina as she echoed the younger woman's thoughts.

"It's pretty bold of them to be attacking outright like this," Flavia said. "What do you think?"

Lucina shrugged. "I'm sorry, Khan Flavia, but I am still unfamiliar with the concepts behind banditry. In the future everyone knew that we had to work together to survive. But I think that we won't know anything about what happened here until the investigation is done."

Flavia sighed again, looking at the ground for a moment before a flash of colour caught her eye.

"Oh, there they are," she commented nonchalantly, drifting over to talk to some more of her subordinates a moment before Lucina was practically tackled off her feet.

"O-Owain!" she shouted as her cousin barrelled into her, picking her up and spinning her around in a tight bear-hug. "What are you- put me down!"

Severa appeared behind the blonde man as he released her, Owain grinning ear to ear until Severa slapped him upside the head.

"Is that any way for a 'hero of legend' to be acting?" she asked, before turning to Lucina. "Hello, Lucina. You look good."

The blue-haired woman nodded, casting a worried glance in her usually boisterous cousin's direction as he stood smiling silently at her, his eyes bright and happy even if his voice was silent.

"Is everything alright, Owain?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

Severa snorted before bursting into laughter as Owain's face contorted into a frown, a hint of red tinging his cheeks when he looked away from the girls.

"He shouted himself hoarse urging on the locals," Severa reported, still laughing.

Lucina let out a small giggle before she caught herself, cleared her throat, and smiled kindly at Owain.

"Perhaps you had best seek out a healer, Cousin," she suggested. "The sight of a silent Owain is simply… wrong."

"See, I'm not the only one that thinks so," Severa added, elbowing him in the ribs.

The two women laughed at Owain's discomfort, the swordsman eventually letting out a sigh and grinning along with the two old friends.

"It's good to see you again, Luce," Owain croaked, giving his cousin a lighter hug this time.

"Seriously, go find a healer," Severa demanded, giving him a light shove. "Gawds… what would you do if I wasn't around to worry about you?"

* * *

><p>Robin resisted the urge to grin through his dishevelled hair, now back to its usual position in his face obscuring half of his vision, as the bandits that had been in the warehouse glared up at Panne lording over them as their impromptu jailor, chaffing at the bonds now holding all their hands behind their backs. They had surrendered without a fuss after Robin's show of magical force, grumbling and cursing quietly as they were bound and left under the Taguel's watchful glare. Some of Flavia's warriors were on their way to take the prisoners into custody, but until then they were Panne's problem.<p>

The battle for the city was winding down now, too; most of the bandits that had moved in had been killed in the initial assault, although a few small groups had gone to ground on the city's slums; Flavia was hunting them out now with Severa and Owain's help while Aversa led the archers around the outer perimeter of the area to ensure that nothing got by them.

"So what's in the box?" Robin asked again, kicking through the ash and slush that were the leftovers of his spell.

He and Gaius approached slowly, the slightly recuperated thief grinning ear to ear.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he assured the tactician. "Open it and find out."

"Well now I just gotta know," Rance muttered to Galle and Mariko, the three of them filing obediently behind the two Shepherds.

Galle rolled his eyes as Mariko silently followed, a brief flickering of her gaze in the Feroxi boy's direction the only indication she had even heard him.

"I think it's pretty safe to assume, then, that I'm about to find out why they decided to attack the city?" Robin asked Gaius, ignoring his students for the time being.

"C'mon already!" Rance practically exploded. "We ain't getting any younger! Open the freakin' box! Sir!"

Casting an amused grin over his shoulder Robin slowly approached the crate and laid both of his hands on top of it. There was a soft ruffling sound inside, similar to the sound that Robin had come to familiarize with the sensation of being yanked off the ground by either Sumia or Cordelia while they were riding their pegasai. Something was off, though. The contents of the box were giving off a much muskier, animal scent than a pegasus did.

_Wings, then? _Robin thought, carefully removing the bolt from the latch and flipping it open. _Are these bandits smuggling juvenile pegasai or something?_

As Robin gingerly opened the crate, lowering the front panel down to the ground, the crate's occupant let out a low growl.

Eyes widening Robin sucked in a breath as he crouched down, stabilizing himself with one hand still on the rim of the crate. He had seen a lot of amazing things in his lifetime; hell, he'd even assisted in killing a God, but nothing could have prepared him for the sheer ludicrousness of what he was looking at.

An avian raptor's head, similar to an eagle in appearance, stared at him with piercing green eyes as large, snow-white wings fluttered behind it as two taloned feet scraped threateningly at its wooden floor. However, from about the shoulders back the crate's occupant stopped being a bird and had the body of a feline beast, its rear legs and hindquarters belonging on a lion rather than a bird. Similar in size to one of the hunting dogs that Robin had seen in Valm, the creature was obviously still a juvenile.

"Is this… really…" Robin stammered, looking in awe at the small creature.

"Yup," Gaius said with a satisfied tone. "It's a gryphon. I managed to sneak a peek into the other boxes, and I overheard the bandits saying to take this one last because he was the smallest."

"So there's more of them?" Robin asked.

Gaius nodded, Panne glaring warily at the small creature from the thief's side while the three students all craned their necks to get a better look at the creature.

If pegasai could be considered uncommon and wyverns could similarly be considered rare, then gryphons were almost as unheard of as fictional unicorns. Said to long ago have gone extinct, there were tavern stories about seeing them in the wild, occasionally catching glimpses of the long-thought-extinct creatures through trees in the rugged northern forests or eastern Ylissean mountain ranges. Robin was unsure why, exactly, they had become so rare. Pegasai made better mounts, and wyverns were apparently more of a challenge to hunt, so why had gryphons faded to obscurity and legend? He wasn't sure, but looking at the timid creature now he could see why they were considered by so many to be treasures; even hunched up and quivering in fear the little gryphon exuded an aura of majestic dominance.

"Rance, throw me some jerky," Robin said, never taking his eyes off the gryphon.

"What? Why?" the Feroxi boy asked, obediently digging around his pack for some. "And more importantly, how did you know I had some on me?"

"Because I know my students," Robin answered, catching the small hunk of dried meat and offering it to the gryphon.

"C'mon out, little guy," Robin cooed. "No one's going to hurt you…"

There was a tense moment where Robin held his breath as he eyed off with the little creature, doing his best to project a non-threatening aura. Just as he was about to sigh in defeat the gryphon slowly began to creep forward, sniffing warily. As he reached the jerky he gave it a thorough inspection before snapping it in his beak and retreating to the corner of his crate.

"Aw, he likes you!" Rance laughed.

"I think objectively, the gryphon might just like the meat," Galle pointed out.

Mariko moved forward, apparently oblivious to her classmate's discussion, crouching down next to Robin with her hands resting on her knees. She quirked her head to one side while looking at the gryphon before reaching out an open hand to it, never breaking eye contact with the creature. Robin watched with awe as the small gryphon crept forward again, this time sniffing carefully at Mariko's hand before nuzzling gently up to it, the way a house cat might have.

"I don't believe it," Galle muttered.

"Okay, so I guess Mariko made a friend?" Rance shrugged.

Robin quirked a brow as the gryphon crept forward a little more, Mariko putting a more strength into her stroking of the creature's feathered head and neck. For a moment her face softened and she muttered something in her native tongue, and the gryphon leapt bodily into her arms. Mariko was almost bowled over by the large creature, but apparently it was lighter than it looked, as she regained her balance and looked with a blank face to her teacher.

"Okay," Robin shrugged, standing up straight. "I guess he's your problem now."

* * *

><p>Far in the south, near the border mountain range that separated Plegia and Ylisse laid the Ylissean city state of Themis. Having been razed nearly a decade ago by the 'Mad King' of Plegia Gangrel, the once beautiful city had bounced back surprisingly fast. Where Ylisstol had a tendency for building upwards and filling the city with great spires and towers, and the city state of Jagen far in the mountainous east tended to simply build atop the mountains or remain in their already constructed forts, Themis was a squat city that spread outwards onto the fields surrounding it. A little further south the Themisian Flood Plains made the perfect place for the horsemasters to train and breed the mounts that the region was famous for, and horses featured heavily in the City's iconography. Under the careful eye of Duke Roark, left in the position of power by the late Duke Themis during the war with Plegia, the city had recovered its former glory and then-some. The region's chief magistrate, Lady Maribelle and her husband General Kellam had both had much to do with the rebuilding process, too, and in the last few years the city had even become a hub of trade between the two neighbouring nations. In fact, much of the trade conducted between Ylisse and the Valmese states also occurred in Themis, making the city irreplaceable to the Haildom.<p>

Or so everyone kept saying. The truth was that, to the Highborn Merchant Class that occupied the city's finer districts, the place itself didn't matter. They would gladly do business in a Plegian swamp if it meant greater profits.

Such merchants had been quick to seize power in the chaos that had occurred after the continual warring, first with Plegia and then with Valm, paying no heed at all to how close their world came to crashing around them when Grima was revived. They only thought of longevity of their profits, and that was how they would remain. It wasn't love or friendship that made the world turn, but greed and coin.

That was what Idallia, the eldest daughter of the Rommel Merchant House and current head of the family, told herself as she strode down the halls of the Themis Merchant's Guild. Her long, pale purple hair fluttered delicately behind her, the only concession she made to her gender; everything else about her spoke purely of practicality, so much to the point that in the past she had been mistaken for a man. A tight leather fest covered a simple cream blouse, and dark workers pants, while of a high quality, could not be disguised as anything besides their true form. She nudged the black rimmed glasses she wore further up her small, thin nose as her immaculate work boots clattered on the smooth stone with every step, the sound echoed by the continual presence of her wiry clerk, Hin'rath. The scraggly man's unkempt shoulder-length black hair and vacant gaze belied just how dangerous a mind he was, but in reality Idallia kept the man around more for his eidetic memory than any other reason; his ability to memorize anything she put in front of him and then recall it at a moment's notice was more than useful to her as a merchant. The Rommel Clan held shares in most of the businesses in the city, if not owning them outright; there was a lot she needed to keep on top of, and Hin'rath's ability saved her a lot of reading.

Usually Idallia was considered to be quite an attractive woman; however her normally pretty features were pulled down in a tight frown at present as she stormed through the guild hall, prompting the lower-ranking clerks wandering around to leap out of her way out of fear of earning her ire. While there was no basis for her terrifying reputation, there were always rumours and stories…

"My lady, perhaps you should calm down before entering the meeting," Hin'rath suggested dully, the man's monotone voice like the sound of dry leafs of paper rubbing together.

"Shut up, Hin'rath," Idallia growled, her tone warning and her fists clenching.

"I would just like to point out what happened last time you attended such a meeting in a foul mood…" the clerk sighed, stopping abruptly as his employer came to a halt.

She cast a withering glare over her shoulder, not needing to be reminded of the sheer size of the contract her foolish youth had cost her during her early days as head of the household, before returning to stomping through the hall in fuming silence. Hin'rath simply sighed before following his mistress, shaking his head slightly at her impulsive attitude.

And why wouldn't she be mad? She had just lost an important foothold in Regna Ferox thanks to the cheap labour she had hired being mistaken for 'bandits'. If this ever came back to her it would destroy her Clan's public image, and no amount of explaining would be able to make it go away. She wasn't coming out of this debacle empty handed, though; five juvenile gryphons, creatures long thought to be extinct, were en-route to the city as she fumed, the sixth having been captured by a local force of warriors. Losing one sixth of her profits wasn't all that bad, though; she would still easily be able to recoup her losses from the Silva debacle by selling the creatures to the nobles that collected such rarities.

Idallia stopped in front of one of the nondescript doors that lined the hallway, taking a deep breath to compose herself. It wasn't often that all of the Guild leaders gathered in one city, so she needed to present herself accordingly as the Representative of the Themis branch of the Guild.

Slightly calmer, Idallia pushed the door open and strode in, knowing that there was no need to knock while she was among equals. As she took in the familiar sight of the four other merchants sitting waiting for her Hin'rath closed the door behind her before darting forward to draw out her chair.

Three older men and one woman of middle-age looked to her expectantly as she plastered her best fake smile on her face.

"Good morning, Alvin. Good morning Mar'kale. Good morning Abdul. And good morning, Lady Anna."

The four senior merchants returned her greetings as Idallia took her seat. They were all representatives of their certain area of the world's merchant guild, however each man or woman at the table had begun life as a peddler or apprentice, and each of them still had keen minds and wits. These meetings always tended to exhaust the younger Idallia, but the fact that she was on the council at such a young age was truly an honour.

"I pray we wrap this up quickly," Mar'kale growled through a thick beard, always the first to complain. "This city stinks of horse."

The oldest among them, Mar'kale had started life as a blacksmith in Chon'sin, choosing to go into business after his apprenticeship ended. Now the man owned almost every smith in the small nation, not to mention having many trade deals all over the world for his goods. It had been a long time since the big man had swung a hammer himself, but he still retained his bulk beneath his homeland's native robes from his days working the bellows.

"That has to be some sort of record," Alvin chuckled, the Ylisstolan merchant grinning to Abdul. "Barely twenty seconds and already complaining. How long did it take him to start moaning about the heat when we met in Plegia Capital?"

"Nearly five minutes," the last man at the table said, his bushy black eyebrow quirking almost all the way up to the strange wrapped head-dress he wore.

Alvin and Abdul had been in business together for a long time, despite their respective homelands' quarrels. Alvin, the fruit merchant, figured there was always demand for fresh produce and lumber in a desert nation, while Abdul surmised that rare spices and exotic bric-a-bracks from his nation would always be welcome across borders. Both men were in their mid-fifties, and while the slimmer Alvin wore a crisp suit Abdul sported long, flowing robes more suited for his home in the desert. While Alvin had spent some time in the Ylissean military, specifically during the crusade that saw Exalt Emmeryn thrust into power, Abdul was a merchant through-and-through.

"Now, now, boys," Anna chided jokingly. "Let's not gang up on the old man just because he's… old. If you were bald like that you would be cranky, too."

The older woman cast Idallia a wink, her long red tresses beginning to grey at the temples but her mind still as sharp as when she had been a travelling peddler, the type she now represented on the guild council. Although 'Anna' was technically the merchant's Clan name, she and her family all chose to sport it as their given name, offering no end to the grief of anyone that had to deal with them on a semi-regular basis. The Anna matriarch was similarly dressed to Idallia, wearing red and yellow working clothes under a deep red silk shawl that had apparently been a souvenir one of her nieces had brought back from Chon'sin.

Idallia sighed quietly as the old man harrumphed, responding to the teasing by firing shots back at the other merchants the way they always did. She tuned out as the four older merchants descended into the same bickering play-fighting they always did, silently wondering how her Grandfather had been able to stomach dealing with the childish fools.

"Curious, what is happening in Regna Ferox right now," Abdul said, snapping Idallia out of her reverie.

"I keep saying we need a representative from the north," Alvin sighed. "Especially now that things are so unstable up there."

"I get periodic reports from my niece," Anna pointed out. "The Khans are still maintaining their power. Barely."

"How is this going to effect the prices of lumber, though?" Mar'kale pondered out loud.

"It shouldn't be too bad," Idallia chimed in. "Silva's a small supplier; most of the Plegian and west-Ylisseans tend to buy from the Ylissean mills, anyway."

The four others nodded agreement, and Idallia almost let out a sigh of relief.

"Strange, though, that the bandits would occupy the city rather than sack it and retreat," Alvin pointed out, leaning on the table.

Idallia felt her tension rise again, desperately trying to come up with a way to change the subject. Fortunately for her, it looked like she wouldn't have to as Mar'kale let out a hearty laugh.

"What are you worried about, boy?" the Chon'sinian all but bellowed in his mirth. "Do you have some secret wine-groves in the north we don't know about?"

"Bah, if only," Alvin groaned, earning more laughter from the rest of the table. "It's been a harsh year for the wineries; it will going to go down as a rare vintage in the future."

"Because he didn't make enough to save as well as drink," Anna added cheekily.

"Oh, like your wine cellar's any smaller than mine," Alvin grumbled.

Idallia covertly sighed through her nose, deciding that things had been far too close. She would have to be careful who she sent to do her work abroad in the future.

* * *

><p>Idallia sighed later that afternoon, sinking into one of the armchairs in her study. As always, Hin'rath was at her side, filling a fine crystal glass with her favourite brandy to take the edge off the day.<p>

"Your brother has returned to the city, mistress," the clerk reported, his tone as bored as ever.

"Have him meet me here," Idallia sighed, taking a long sip from her glass. "Leave the bottle, though."

Hin'rath nodded, placing the crystal bottle full of the fine amber liquid on the nearby table before scurrying from the room.

Idallia sighed again, sinking deeper into her chair. She was seriously considering killing her brother for being unable to control the mercenaries in Silva. They needed the foothold in the north for the next stage of their plan, and they needed to establish it now. The Khan Tournament was only a few short years away, and the Rommel Clan needed to be well-established in Regna Ferox by then.

She perked up slightly as footsteps echoed outside her study, sitting up properly in her armchair just as her brother burst into the room, still filthy from the road.

"Hello, sister," he said, his voice betraying how bone-tired he was.

Idallia decided that she wouldn't kill him, but she wouldn't be gentle about this either. Her crystal glass shattered on the wall beside her brother's head as she crossed the space, slugging the younger man in the jaw in her rage.

"Dammit, Maris, you almost cost us everything!" she roared in his face.

Maris didn't flinch, although his eyebrow rose a little at his sister's blow. He was the warrior in the family; easily a foot taller than Idallia and twice as broad. He had served among the Themisian Light Cavalry during the war with Valm while Idallia had only been a reservist, guarding the camps and running for her life during the flight from Steiger. Still, though, the younger man respected his sister, and knew he had screwed up royally in the north.

"We can recoup the losses with the gryphons," he assured her. "Even just selling one or two will easily cover what we lost-"

"That's not the point!" Idallia shouted, running a hand over her face as she turned away from Maris' impassive features. "I told you right at the outset to be 'subtle'! Do you even know what that word means!?"

Maris scoffed as he crossed the room, pouring two more glasses of brandy and offering one to his sister.

"I'm not stupid, sister," he told her. "Here. Take a drink. Relax. You'll live longer. I could use one, too… Do you have any idea how unpleasant it was to sneak out of Silva by wading through the river? I lost three men to hypothermia."

"However, it was worth it. We already have buyers for two of the gryphons," Maris went on, pacing to the window overlooking the Themis marketplace below them. "Hell, I almost want to keep one for myself."

Idallia sunk back into her chair, glaring at the glass in her hand before downing the contents in one gulp.

"Then keep one," she sighed, calming a little as her exhaustion returned after her outburst. "You're the cavalryman without a horse. And you did find the gryphons. Keep one as a mount if you really want, but sell the rest."

Maris nodded, leaning against the window frame and grinning at his reflection. "I knew there was a reason I agreed to join the family business."

Idallia groaned as Hin'rath materialized at her shoulder and poured her another drink, choosing not to mention that if Maris hadn't gone hunting for the gryphons in the first place and stuck to their plan then the 'bandits' wouldn't have gotten bored in Silva and wrecked the place.

"I suppose, in the long run, we can just buy the Silva Mills," Idallia groaned into her glass.

"There's your optimism again," Maris grinned, draining his own glass. "But we have one more problem to deal with."

"Lovely," Idallia sighed. "What now?"

"Khan Flavia herself led the Feroxi forces that retook the city," Maris told her. "And she wasn't alone. Grandmaster Robin himself was with her, and he brought his school's entire staff with him."

Idallia practically leapt out of her chair at this revelation, almost dropping her glass in the process.

"What?" she breathed. "He was… there? I thought he was done with politics!"

"Apparently he wanted to get some experience for some of his students," Maris went on. "We need to find some way to get him out of the picture, though, if we want to carry out our objectives."

Idallia nodded in agreement, thinking quickly. What they needed was something that would distract him for a long period of time. The Rommel Clan didn't have the resources or allies to instigate civil unrest and start a war, but they did have a small standing army, with a lot of veteran soldiers trained in covert operations to make use of.

"Burn it down," she said at last, still staring into her glass.

"What?" Maris asked evenly, moving to stand in front of his sister.

Idallia didn't answer at first, draining the rest of her drink slowly this time and letting the alcohol burn its way down to her stomach, savouring the flavour of the drink.

"The school," she said after she lowered her glass. "While Robin's away. Burn it to the ground."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I purposely left Idallia and Maris' plans vague. Rule number one: Show, don't tell. <strong>


End file.
